Inherent Vice: Groucho Marx & Mickey Wolfmann

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

Since Pynchon refers to Groucho Marx more than just once or twice in his 
novels, the following text passage found my special interest:

"Groucho's famous remark ('I don't want to belong to any club that will 
accept people like me as a member') is a direct comment on ethnic 
assimilation, which is refused to accept at the same time by
the comment itself. It's the paradox of the Jewish refugees who were 
confronted with the challenge to throw their historical individuality 
into the American melting-pot in order to survive."

(Philip Cohen: Gefährliche Erbschaften: Studien zur Entstehung einer 
multirassistischen Kultur in Großbritannien, pp. 81-144, here 82; in: 
Annita Kalpaka/Nora Räthzel (eds.): Die Schwierigkeit, nicht rassistisch 
zu sein; 2., überarbeitete Auflage. Leer 1990: Mundo; the 
back-translation is my own.)

What has this to do with Mickey Wolfmann? Now, he's introduced as 
"technically Jewish but wants to be a Nazi" (IV, p. 7). And this - don't 
you agree? - is directly related to Groucho's paradox. Mickey Wolfmann 
solves the paradox for himself by wanting to belong to a club that would 
never accept him as a member! He's resisting assimilation to the 
US-American mainstream also by getting "exercised often to the point of 
violence at those who forget to spell his name with two n's" (ebd.). His 
correctly spelled name could indicate a German-Jewish ethno-cultural 
background. Same for Mickey's connection to the "Westside Hochdeutsch 
mafia" (ebd.). Not quite sure what to make of all this.

Thoughts, anyone?

Kai