CoL49 - 2nd section of chapter 5

[Joseph Tracy]

Good summary and thoughtful responses all have my wheels turning. More to say later.

> On Jul 2, 2024, at 6:48 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 1)
> Questions:Why is it love and not capitalism that the founder of IA believes
> has ruined his life?
> 
> Because the tower of capitalism is everywhere; he makes his living within
> it and it cost him Love.....
> 
> 2) Why would a member of the IA be getting drunk in a gay bar?
> 
> Wants to get drunk and meet no one to tempt his commitment...
> 
> 3) Why does Oedipa feel despair when she realizes that "nobody around her
> has any sexual relevance" to her.
> 
> Because in a "normal" world/ environment there is always ...some chemistry
> between the sexes....but not here...
> She doesn't feel like a woman, a major part of her identity.
> 
> 4) How does the founding story of the Isolate at the gay bar compare with
> the drunken sailor grieving his wife?
> IA founder lost her without being able to grieve her....rejection....so the
> normal human grief of the sailor for a
> wife he loved and lost is lost to him.....
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jul 2, 2024 at 6:37 AM J K Van Nort via Pynchon-l <
> pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:
> 
>> Greetings,
>> Sorry this is late.
>> Summary:
>> Oedipa's conversation continues with the Inamorati Anonymous gentleman. He
>> explains their purpose and also the story of the founder, who contemplating
>> suicide after the loss of his job and marriage has a revelation. The story
>> of how the muted posthorn symbol became a for the group involves a Yoyodyne
>> mid level administrator who loses his job, his wife, and his reason to live
>> and just as he is about to kill himself in the same form as a Buddhist monk
>> protesting Vietnam, he has a revelation that love is the problem. The
>> gasoline has soaked a series of letters that he received (presumably)
>> through W.A.S.T.E. which wipes the ink to reveal a watermark with the muted
>> posthorn. He forms the IA and uses the muted posthorn as its symbol.
>> The Isolate leaves her to go to the bathroom and never returns. She leaves
>> the Greek Way and wanders the city, finding the posthorn symbol everywhere.
>> She finds children dreaming that they are playing together, In a Mexican
>> restaurant, she meets Jesus Arrabal, a Mexican anarchist she had met in
>> Mazatlan with Pierce. He describes Pierce as the reason he has stayed with
>> anarchy, as Pierce represents everything he despises. He describes a
>> miracle as 'another world's intrusion into this one. She continues through
>> the 'infected city' where she sees more examples of the posthorn, finally
>> finding an old drunken sailor with the posthorn tattooed onto his hand. She
>> comforts him, and he asks her to mail a letter to his wife through
>> W.A.S.T.E., which she says she doesn't know how to use. He tells her she
>> can find a location under the highway. She helps him to bed and imagines
>> that he will die by having his cigarette ignite his mattress when he falls
>> asleep.
>> 
>> Questions:Why is it love and not capitalism that the founder of IA
>> believes has ruined his life?Why would a member of the IA be getting drunk
>> in a gay bar?Why does Oedipa feel despair when she realizes that "nobody
>> around her has any sexual relevance" to her?How does the founding story of
>> the Isolate at the gay bar compare with the drunken sailor grieving his
>> wife? Why is that important?
>> 
>> In solidarity,
>> James
>> 
>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> 
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> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l