An Interpretation of the Theme of Quest in Pynchon’s Novel V

【Abstract】Thomas Pynchon is one of the most respectable representative writers in the postmodern society in the USA， and whose literary works are almost created by the mode of narrative in the perspective of questing. On the basis of this traditional narrative mode， he has made a lot of literary creations during his writing career and the quality of unique narrative mode of the postmodernism novel has shown out. The questing experience and the resolutions of the two characteristics in the novel named V highlightened the indeterminacy， which is the symbolization of the postmodern world. The unique questing has offered scholars an space for their minds to be reassured and to release their mental worlds， with the aim that the regulation of strict social class could be eliminated， and to make a more comfortable living environment for human.

【Key words】Thomas Pynchon； V； Postmodernism； Indeterminacy； Quest Narrative

【作者簡介】XU Yan， CAI Dian-mei， Liaoning Normal University.

1. Introduction

When it dates back to human’s lifelong history， there were many traces and steps of people who were on the road for questing. In the very beginning of the Paradise in the Bible， the ancestors of human being has been driven out of their heaven due to the mistakes they made， as a result of which they settled into the long journey of questing. Based on this plot， numerous protagonists in the following literary works started their ways to quest and the questing stories come into being.

The concept of postmodernism was coined by American scholars in the 1960s. It was firstly used in the area of architecture and art and then was introduced into the literary field. Postmodernism literary trend includes a lot of different literary schools， such as Existentialism and so on[1]. This paper tries to make an analysis of the questing theme in Pynchon’ work to show the creativity and uniqueness of his literary work.

2. Questing figures in traditional literary works

In the traditional literary works， the process of questing and its resolution of the protagonists are usually conventional： suffering， conquering and achieving. For example， Odyssey， created by Homer， held a strong belief of coming back to his home and eventually he made it after ten years of floating outside[2]. Carried some features of the questing narratives in the traditional ways， postmodernism literary works have made some creations under the basis of this kind of narrative[3]. Works of Pynchon are the typical modes of questing in the postmodernism literature， and his masterpieces， like V and The Crying of Lot 49 all took this kind of questing narrative in an indefinite and opaque goal of exploration.

Scholars in the postmodernism period show that the “meaning” is nothing but some stuff presented by the combination of the linguistic symbols. The quest of the protagonists in the literary works of postmodernism is bound to meaningless and have no resolution. In Pynchon’ V， the two characters’ questing process are the basic representations of the characteristics in the postmodernism literary works. One was in the hopeless situation during the process of questing， and the other received nothing in the quest paid almost every ounce of his strength.

3. The questing theme in the novel V

3.1 Positive quest of Stencil-- in hopeless situation

Stencil， one of the main characters in the novel V， came to find out that there was a woman codified as the letter V in his father’s diary， and he thought it was probably his mother so that he started vigorously his questing journey-- to find out the authentic situations of the woman codified by the capital letter V， and look for her footing steps[4]. Traces of V’s shadows could be seen here and there in the text but the ontological body of V becomes more and more mysterious and unpredictable.

In Pynchon’s literary work， V is a symbol of a woman whose identity changes from time to time， and with the development of the further step of the protagonist’s investigation， the real identity was gradually uncovered step by step. The development of the tendency for the materialism of V shows that Stencil disillusion and disenchantment for his life ambition with the positive and active quests.

3.2 Negative Quest of Benny Profane--Nothing

In the novel V， Pynchon created a group named “the whole sick crew”， from which we can see that it is a group of a whole set of people with their sickness and insanity. In fact， all of the members in this group acted very actively， but most of them would achieve nothing due to their crude and rush way of behaving.

The other character in the novel V called Profane was the one member of the whole sick crew. “ Benny Profane， a schlemihl and human yo-yo， gets to an apocheir.”When compared with the society in which he was living， his consciousness was comparatively loose， and lack of the dominant thoughts and there was no meaningfulness and questing or investigation value for the things he has experienced and undergone， so he would not care about these relevant stuffing. Therefore， his way of quest was negative and it was destined to achieve nothing in the end.

4. Conclusion

Questing is an everlasting topic in the literary works. Authors in different historical periods give different literary meanings of it and different symbols were put onto the figures in different times. People live in a world full of indeterminacy， terror and disorder， and they feel disenchanted and hopeless， lack of sense of security and existence. Therefore， they want to live in a life with definite goals and meaningfulness， they can be hopeful in the process of questing and their self-value can be better achieved.

In comparison with some protagonists with definite and obvious living goals in the traditional literary works， the main figures in the postmodernism novels also hold the belief of questing. In the novel V ， questing has not become Stencil and Profane’s living goal， but a kind of way for them to escape from life. It is an effective way of authors to release their stress and pressure， and to provide people with a rather quiet， freely imagined， and unshackled space as well as a temporary shelter for people’s mental worlds， and with its aim to deconstruct the strict social hierarchy and the paradise world should be back for human beings.

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