BtZ42 Section 9 (pp 53-60): Jessica wonders

[Monte Davis]

P. 54: "searchlights... to light the night, and barrage balloons to
populate fat and friendly the daybreak... even the explosions... only kind
thunder"

These momentary, optimistic Disneyfications hit their stride in GR -- or at
least I can't recall anything quite in this voice from V. or Col49, while
it's always in the toolkit from here on. Here we get it through Jessica's
wistfulness, but I associate it with Slothrop's immersion in movies and
comix and upbeat pop songs.

Why is the hovering, out-of-body Jessica "in widelegged, shoulderpadded
white"? Doesn't sound like the hand-me-down pajamas mentioned a few lines
later. Is there a specific 1940s visual cue I'm missing, not this but
something like it?

<goog_1442636608>
http://electricka.com/etaf/muses/music/gone_but_not_forgotten/second_world_war_era/zoot_suit/multimedia/calloway_in_zoot_suit.jpg

"...Biblical, maybe, spooky as an old northern fairy tale, but not The War"

Nothing to see here, just ol' Tom doing a fast pivot-cut shuffle of his
sources: Genesis rainbow and Slothrop preterition: check... Wotan's hunt,
Hansel and Gretel, Tannhauser: check... and that global Freedom vs Tyranny
II thing they're podcasting battle by battle at the moment, which may have
some long-term staying power.

"As the data keep coming in, Roger looks more and more like a prophet. Psi
Section people stare after him in the hallways."

This reversal -- who's the wizard here? -- is as good a one-paragraph
snapshot of Pynchon, Science and Magic as there is. They want control, so
they look for a controller, and he can't convince them that the spooky
order just...emerges... with nothing for anyone to get a handle on.
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