asports and apports... why?

[rich]

I kind've get the sense these are a somewhat blunt reference to forces out
there delving in some higher calculation we'll never know the reasoning
behind.

rich

On Thu, Jun 4, 2026 at 9:39 AM Joseph Tracy via Pynchon-l <
pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:

> asport - to carry away. Used mostly in legal language to describe acts
> of larceny.
>
> apport- used to refer to movement of object  made to appear by occult
> means.
>
>
> What is Pynchon's intent in introducing what appears to be a
> supernatural movement of objects  into the story.
> The first instance marks a turning point for Hicks, an outer
> manifestation of an inner change of direction, away from hired thug for
> plutocracy, away from 'might makes right and pays the bills', away from
> trusting the untrustworthy. He is less sure of what he is turning
> toward,  observes and is offered many options, keeps dancing  away from
> the "power brokers" toward others also moving towqrd the zone.
>
>        larceny as major theme- stealing the human right to bargain for
> fair pay, stealing through false promises( stock market, romance,
> protection rackets, radioactive cheese, imperialism( british, american
> and axis), jewel theft, ....
>
>        the idea of away- away from imperialism, away from bolshevist
> violence, away from criminal warlords, but where to? Once again we are
> in the zone between.
>
>     the idea of angelic guidance of the heart, of consequntial choices
> :  the idea that some people will move deeper into systems of violence
> and the rewards offered there,  and some will  seek another path of
> conscience or human vulnerbility and love,  juxtaposition of meaning:
> instead of being a hired sap as in a truncheon-like tool of violence,
>   being a sap for compassion, more like the sap in a tree or plant that
> moves life-giving light through the whole.
>
> asports- Hicks's sap,  disappeared agreement of no out of town tickets
> and no matrimonials, Stuffy to U13, Hicks to Stupendica and prewar
> Europe,  Ace from employee of Airmont  hired to hunt to hunted object of
> vengeance. objects in Budapest including bullets.
>
> always there is a powerful element of the supernatural in Pynchon's
> work. It seems to me that he refuses to reject this aspect of experience.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>