antw. Re: Politics, Bopp in Vineland, and MDDM Washington
[email protected] (lorentzen-nicklaus) Sat, 29 Jun 2002 10:07:56 +0200
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.literature.thomas-pynchon |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
jbor schrieb: > > " ... the notorious Karl Bopp, former Nazi *Luftwaffe* officer and > subsequently useful American citizen" (Vineland 221.23) > This throwaway description certainly begs the question of how he became, and > what he's been doing as, a "useful American citizen" in the 35 years leading > up to 1980. I agree that it does relate back to von Braun in _GR_. But I > think it's a very narrow and distorted perspective to infer from this that > the point of the novel is the "association of Nazi Germany and Reagan-Bush > America". Bopp is a *former* Nazi. The word denotes that he is no longer a > Nazi. Thus, the US government he is working for in 1980 is not being > referred to as a Nazi government, except by you of course. Bopp is described > (sarcastically, I agree) as a "subsequently useful American citizen". He is > useful to CAMP because he flies planes. The point seems to be that after > 1945 the US government invited former Nazis with particular skills and > expertise to become US citizens. And I'd imagine that this is, historically, > the case. your "not-my-department-positivism" is truly charming ... and moony prick is just about fishing, eh? of course bopp stands in a line with hilarius, blicero & von braun, all characters in pynchon who represent the "german danger" for american politics ... sez dörk from dallas