Benny as Angel of Death

[bandwraith at aol.com]

I haven't used condoms in years, but back
in the day, they all had "For prophylactic use
only" stamped on them. A sop to the pope
I guess, or good marketing, since most
catholics I know fuck like rabbits.(skewed
sample, of course) But which is it here,
prophylaxis OR contraception? Prophylaxis
AND contraception? Prophylaxis and/or
contraception? What is supposed to be
excluded, life or disease?

Some people are convinced that life IS
a disease which  infected the once
pristine inanimate universe. Surely there
is no disease without life. So, I guess,
life is the mother of all disease, while
at the same time, the mother of all hope.

Could be another one of those Inherent
Vices- hard to find insurance for, high
premium. Worth the sacrifice, I suppose.

Benny? Even as the A. of D., still a schlemiel.


-----Original Message-----
From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
To: Krafft, John M. <krafftjm at muohio.edu>
Cc: pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Thu, Feb 10, 2011 2:58 pm
Subject: Re: Benny as Angel of Death


God.  That wasn't obvious to me, but I haven't looked at the text this
time around.  I will do so tonight.  All I can say is that this seems
to be taking puns to a whole new level, which sounds right for TRP.

But of course this would make Profane a sort of Anti-Angel-of-Death,
"anti-condom-ing," and thus spawning, not killing newborns.  In V.
this fits, because when Rachel goes for the abortion, it is treated as
if she is violating the sanctity of life, a major sin against herself
& life.  Pychon's Catholic roots are really showing there.

David Morris

On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 2:44 AM, Krafft, John M. <krafftjm at muohio.edu> 
wrote:
> (Is this just too obvious for anyone to have mentioned, or did I miss 
it, or
what?)
>
> In his Angel-of-Death routine, Benny "condemns" his victims to 
impregnate and
be impregnated. One early critic (maybe even a reviewer or two) got all 
huffy
about Profane's promoting sterility, missing the point of what putting
thumbtacks through condoms does to their effectiveness.
>
> jmk
>