SLOADERS:
Mostly, I'll go along with Rick, but Diana's assertion is worth discussing
for several reasons.
1) Its a good way to get the discussion started because the "over-ripe"
reference comes from page two, and there's nothing more reasonable than
starting at the beginning.
2) I'll disagree with her interpetation, but then show how it should be
read. I mean, not only that phrase specifically but also the interpetation
of his fiction in general.
3) Strange as it may seem, I think Pirsig has made a careful choice in using
the phrase and he's using it to say something that is - well - not
unimportant.
Just telling you what I'm gonna tell you, just like a freshman's book
report.
Not even going to try and prove a negative. That is, I'm not going to try
and prove that Pirsig loves and respects women as much as anyone else. Not
going to try and prove he's a genuine feminist or anything like that.
Instead, I'll just try to show you what I think he IS saying. And when we
see what he's really saying it becomes clear that misogyny simply isn't an
issue.
"An earlier lust came back and his arm went over her so that his hand held
her breast - full there but too soft, like something over-ripe that would
soon go bad."
Why does he talk about her like that? Soon go bad? What's up with that?
On the same page (two) Pirsig also uses these phrases and images:
"the winter constellations would soon be back"
"There was almost no green left in the trees"
"the turned leaves had already fallen"
"gusts of cold wind had swept down"
"spiraling flights of red and maroon and gold and brown"
"seemed abandoned and forlorn now that summer had ended"
If we look at the phrase "over-ripe" in the context of the rest of page two
it becomes pretty clear that he's telling us that Lila is in the autumn of
her life. He's trying to tie her in with the natural cycle of the seasons,
with the ducks and geese and morning ice. It's November in New York and in
Lila.
And this Lila who "will soon enough die" is just one of several images used
to paint her. On page one she is "softly cherubic" and has "a common child's
face that seemed so familiar it attracted a certain natural affection." On
page three she is the louder or two giggling girls with "the same face,
exactly - gold hair and smooth complexion and blue eyes".
And Pirsig seems to be doing more than just depicting this one particular
person in several stages of life. He's talking about ancient and eternal
things too...
>From page 6...
"These half-forgotten images are strange, he thought, like dreams. This
sleeping Lila whom had just met tonight was someone else too. Or not someone
else exactly, but someone less specific, less individual. There is Lila,
this single private person who slept beside him now, who was born and now
lived and will soon enough die and then there is someone else - call her
lila - who is immortal, who inhabits Lila for a while and then moves on.
And this passage helps explain all the ambiguity about whether or not he'd
seen her before. Lila with a capital "L" had never been to that city with
the streetcars, or anywhere in that part of the country, but he had seen
lila with a small "l" many times throughout his life.
I think the idea is that he immortal lila inhabits all women.
Not too co-incidentally, Orion is a mythological hunter who is said to have
impregnated hundreds or thousands of women. And Rigel is a bright star
within the constellation of Orion. So, of course, the whole thing is about
biological quality.
Do a little dance. Make a little love. Get down tonight.
>From the sleep of reason, a life is born.
We are creatures, creatures of love.
DMB
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Jan 17 2002 - 13:08:32 GMT