The first page of the text (minus the heading and quote on the previous page which I will write about later), begins "A SCREAMING COMERS ACROSS THE SKY. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now," (Pynchon, 3). Right from the first line, we are struck by the presence of sound as a facet for imagery in the text. This use of sound to convey the physical surroundings and characterize the setting is done masterfully. The first line of this text is an excellent example of this, and I have noticed so far the continuance of this use of sound in the novel as well. Sound in this first page is used in polarization to light, or the absence of it.
Absence of Light: The absence of light in the beginning of the text immediately places us in what seems almost to be a post apocalyptic universe where we are uncertain of what has happened to cause the world to be this way, and yet we are struck that there is something a miss. Perhaps the novel's beginning at night in a setting where there is no light is used to be metaphorical; making some note on the setting being devoid of hope. Perhaps it is used to set the scene for us as a reader, to paint in our minds a setting that is filled with murky blackness and sullen lumped figures making their way through this iron environment. Perhaps it is done to make the reader feel as the individuals the narrator speaks of in the text that we too are: "pushing into older and more desolate parts of the city. Is this the way out? Faces turn to windows, but no one dares to ask, not out loud," (Pynchon, 3). Perhaps all three, I will continue studying the use of light in the text as I continue reading.
Spectacle: I have long been fascinated with the use of the concept of the spectacle in literary texts, and I am always on the lookout for some small hit nor use of this concept. The narrator of the text makes reference to a spectacle on page 3: "He's afraid of the way the glass will fall - soon - it will be a spectacle: the fall of a crystal palace. But coming down in total blackout, without one glint of light, only great invisible crashing," (Pynchon, 3). I find this quote quite interesting since it references the concept of the spectacle, which is ironic since in it seems that one of the inherent qualities of a spectacle is that one must have a witness or be able to see a spectacle, which in an environment that is devoid of light, like this one is not possible. And yet, once again the narrator brings in that quality of sound again, with the use of the line: "without one glint of light, only great invisible crashing," (Pynchon, 3), and with this we are once again made aware of the ability of sound to convey and almost take over the properties of light in this first page, filling in the details and needs that the absence of light would leave this world in need of.
Absence of Light: The absence of light in the beginning of the text immediately places us in what seems almost to be a post apocalyptic universe where we are uncertain of what has happened to cause the world to be this way, and yet we are struck that there is something a miss. Perhaps the novel's beginning at night in a setting where there is no light is used to be metaphorical; making some note on the setting being devoid of hope. Perhaps it is used to set the scene for us as a reader, to paint in our minds a setting that is filled with murky blackness and sullen lumped figures making their way through this iron environment. Perhaps it is done to make the reader feel as the individuals the narrator speaks of in the text that we too are: "pushing into older and more desolate parts of the city. Is this the way out? Faces turn to windows, but no one dares to ask, not out loud," (Pynchon, 3). Perhaps all three, I will continue studying the use of light in the text as I continue reading.
Spectacle: I have long been fascinated with the use of the concept of the spectacle in literary texts, and I am always on the lookout for some small hit nor use of this concept. The narrator of the text makes reference to a spectacle on page 3: "He's afraid of the way the glass will fall - soon - it will be a spectacle: the fall of a crystal palace. But coming down in total blackout, without one glint of light, only great invisible crashing," (Pynchon, 3). I find this quote quite interesting since it references the concept of the spectacle, which is ironic since in it seems that one of the inherent qualities of a spectacle is that one must have a witness or be able to see a spectacle, which in an environment that is devoid of light, like this one is not possible. And yet, once again the narrator brings in that quality of sound again, with the use of the line: "without one glint of light, only great invisible crashing," (Pynchon, 3), and with this we are once again made aware of the ability of sound to convey and almost take over the properties of light in this first page, filling in the details and needs that the absence of light would leave this world in need of.
