Re: Oedipa’s Planetarium

[J K Van Nort]

Pynchon’s vision is cosmic, and I do think Driblette’s metaphor is Pynchon’s response to both critics and his readers. 

However, Oedipa says at the beginning of ch 4 that “it was part of her duty, wasn’t it, to bestow life on what had persisted, to try to be what Driblette was, a dark machine in the center of the planetarium, to bring the estate into pulsing stelliferous Meaning, all in a soaring dome around her?”

She then remembers the bond she posted with probate court, identifying it as a monetary valuation of the obstacles she faces. She looks at the notebook with the muted horn where she wrote “Shall I project a world?” Then she says: “If not project then at least flash some arrow on the dome to skitter among the constellations and trace out your Dragon, Whale, Southern Cross. Anything might help.”

Who is the antecedent of “You”? At this point I think she still means Pierce. On another level, if Charles Hollander is correct, then is this Pynchon contemplating a vision of JFK’ assassination in all its complexity and uncertainty? 

I’m not sold on Hollander’s premise. I do find it interesting that the only other lead female character in his novels is in Bleeding Edge. 

In solidarity,

James


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On Sunday, June 2, 2024, 15:18, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

The "Shall I project a world?" line I have always read as a world beyond the one she lives in...Beyond Pierce's esp now that the Trystero has entered. IS she asking herself to project Trystero's world?And is the world a projectible one---like religions' worlds are?....she is asking herself that because no revelations beyond this world are happening and she is losing her world---her tower; Pierce's projections...
This IS a new cosmic vision....Pynchon's vision is not narrow, not simple, not quotidian....
On Sun, Jun 2, 2024 at 12:35 PM J K Van Nort via Pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:

Oedipa continues with Driblette's planetarium metaphor that he is creating universes, but she seeks to project a world that Pierce Inverarity left behind. Why a planetarium and not a movie to define a life? Did Pierce’s life have a “pulsing, stelliferous Meaning” that could only be projected as a universe? 

We know why Driblette makes the comparison, but that doesn’t make sense with Oedipa unless she is just enamored of the idea.

In solidarity,

James

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