BE ch 5 nerd wars

[David Morris]

“each local rep  [of The Man in our brain]  has a cover known as the Ego”

So, let’s dig a little deeper into that pivotal GR quote:

In GR, Pynchon was *immersed* in Norman O Brown’s *Life Against Death,* and
thus into a deep consideration of Freud’s theories.  If Pynchon says that
our *Ego* is the Man’s “cover” (a spy’s false identity) inside our brain,
that’s essentially Pynchon saying that “The Man” inside our brain is our
*Repressed** Id!!!* That’s what Pynchon is calling the “bad shit”
which is  *The
Man* inside our brain.  (Are you following all that?)

So, calling the emblem of the white albatross “a sign of guilt or
frustration” isn’t even a pale shadow of what Pynchon meant it to represent
in GR.  Joe was much closer when he called it “original sin.”  It’s a sign
of the malignancy of *the repressed Id* in every person’s psyche.  And
that’s why we can’t shake it.

Like Mark said, it’s not our fault, but we are responsible (for what we do
with it).

I don’t know how much of GR’s ontology is Pynchon’s, and if it has survived
into BE.  But I think some of it is and has.

David Morris