From: gvcarter-AT-purdue.edu Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 19:29:41 -0500 Subject: Re: preterite freedom Eric/All, That whisper to the dock worker about "Ouspenskian nonsense" gets me. So, too--in an entirely different way--does anon's SHOUTING. Jesus! whisper, whisper. ...whisp..."her"... i think you're right, too, about the "he" pronoun, eric. whispering (and still snickering over that oh so apt O'Reilly link =), geof > "More Ouspenskian nonsense," whispers a lady brushing by on the arm of a > dock worker." > > In order to discuss this passage in the context of the issue of free > will and within the overall structure of GR, I think it is necessary to > point out that the novel posits both the deterministic positivism of > Pointman AND the "Ouspenskian nonsense" of Slothrop. For Pynchon, this > all remains profoundly indeterminate. As he describes the dilemma in one > justly celebrated paragraph: > > "Will the child gaze up from his ground of golden straw then, gaze into > the eyes of the old king who bends long and unfurling overhead, leans to > proffer his gift, will the eyes meet, and what message, what possible > greeting or entente will flow between the king and the infant prince? Is > the baby smiling, or is it just gas? Which do you want to be?" > > I think while Pynchon remains ambiguous, he is also critical of both > positions taken independently. He does not really suggest that in the > absence of the illusion of control, things will just happen and there > remains nothing we can do. The whole tone of GR is not one of > resignation, at least in my reading. Instead it often seems to present a > kind of playful melancholy, however oxymoronic this may seem. > > In a way that seems to foreshadow Lyotard in Libidinal Economy and D&G > in Anti-Oedipus he seems at various points in the novel to advocate an > active passivity of creative paranoia with its pursuit of mindless > pleasures as a counterbalance to the whole Weber-grill rationalization > of charisma; a Western civilization madly in pursuit of death. > > "no counterfeit baby, no announcement of the Kingdom, not even a try at > warming or lighting this terrible night, only, damn us, our scruffy > obligatory little cry, our maximum reach outward - praise be to God!- > for you to take back with you to your war-address, your war-identity, > across the snow's footprints and tire tracks finally to the path you > must create yourself, alone in the dark. Whether you want it or not, > whatever seas you have crossed, the way home....." > > Whether or not we 'own' free will, we still have the responsibility to > act. Therein lies the paradox. > > eric > > > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.524 / Virus Database: 321 - Release Date: 10/6/2003 > > >
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