Ernie and March: "my grandson Kennedy" (BE130)

[Christopher]

Agreed with Joseph. The writing about parents in BE doesn't come off as
satire at all. It seems more like he's presenting something complicated and
strange that just happens between children and parents. There's no clear
judgement of it. Blaming parents, as Joseph says, is way too easy. And
immature. Pynchon's a better writer than that no matter what you think of
BE.

And I'm definitely interested in the internet/death-wish connection, I just
don't know what I think of it. I'm inclined to agree but....how does that
death-wish express itself exactly? I'm not sure I can add to the
conversation.

On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 3:49 PM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:

> Don’t buy it, for several reasons. This is always Ish’s interpretation of
> lefty parents in all P’s writing. I think blaming parents in general is too
> simplistic for P. Also there is an implied notion that good parenting is a
> kind of ideal neutrality. Yuck.  Futhermore the idea that anti war people
> create war, or that leftys create fascism is dopy.  Parents make mistakes
> with consequences and the biggest mistake is to cut off affection. But in
> my observation this is more common among the highly competitive, egotistic
> and status driven  than the left or right. Anyway this interp feels like
> reverse PC and not satisfying because it excludes the humanity of those
> satirized which I think is quite palpable in the text. In the end, if I
> recall correctly, the parents reach out to their daughter with far more
> genuine love than Ice.
>   Finally there is a problem of the scale and consequences of bad
> behavior. One could have many arguments over the purity and qualifications
> of those who fought fascism in the WW2 era and Pynchon does look at these
> things, but his judgemet falls heaviest on the fascists on both sides of
> the war, those who sacrifice humane values for control and power, those who
> blindly issue and follow unscrupulous orders.
>
> I guess I am the only one interested in the original question about the
> internet and death wish connection?
> > On Mar 2, 2016, at 6:38 AM, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Pynchon has the parents name the boy Kennedy.
> >
> > A somewhat popular name, especially with the Tallis and Ice community,
> > of the time the novel is set, but, and while this is not simple naming
> > allegory here, never is with Pynchon, it fits with Pynchon's satire of
> > the Lefty grandparents Ernie and March.
> >
> > Here March is satirized.
> >
> > Again, the satire of the Left by the Leftist Pynchon critiques the
> > politicization of family relations and how the elders try to control,
> > steer and direct the grandchildren.
> >
> > March says, "You never want to see kids repeat your own mistakes."
> >
> >
> > She's talking about her daughter, who, like March married, "a
> > promising entrepreneur." 129
> >
> > So her daughter made the marriage mistake, and March has given up her,
> > but is now focused on her grandson, Kennedy.
> >
> > To March, her daughter's choice of mate and of career make her "a
> > perverse child" married to Ice, and "He's evil." 129
> > He owns her daughter, as March sees it.
> >
> > And, the bond she has with her grandson is founded on hate, on hating
> > the same people. 130
> >
> > What's in a name?
> >
> > Kennedy? A fight for the boy. Has it anything, this fight, to do with
> > the famous Kennedy clan?
> > -
> > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>
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