During the fall semester 2012, students of Sean Carswell's Major American Authors course at Cal State Channel Islands used this blog to create a class wiki, in which they investigated the cultural context of Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day and reported on these issues for one another. This is the resulting blog/wiki. The class posts ran from September-December of 2012. Hopefully, these posts will enrich your experience of the novel.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Rich Don't Always Win
Polls now show that two-thirds of Americans believe that the nation's enormous wealth ought to be "distributed more evenly." But almost as many Americans—well over half—feel that protests against inequality will ultimately have "little impact." The rich, millions of us believe, always get their way.
Except they don't.
A century ago, the United States hosted a super-rich even more domineering than ours today. Yet fifty years later, that super-rich had almost entirely disappeared. Their majestic mansions and estates had become museums and college campuses, and America had become a vibrant, mass middle class nation, the first and finest the world had ever seen.
http://catalog.sevenstories.com/products/rich-dont-always-win
Except they don't.
A century ago, the United States hosted a super-rich even more domineering than ours today. Yet fifty years later, that super-rich had almost entirely disappeared. Their majestic mansions and estates had become museums and college campuses, and America had become a vibrant, mass middle class nation, the first and finest the world had ever seen.
http://catalog.sevenstories.com/products/rich-dont-always-win
John D. Rockefeller and Scarsdale Vibe
John D. Rockefeller
John
D. Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839. From a young age—approximately 12—he
started working to earn money and saved the money that he made until he had a
fare sum. It was at this time when he made his first loan to a neighbor farmer.
This farmer borrowed the money from young Rockefeller with a 7% interest rate
that had to be paid in full the following year. It was at this time that
Rockefeller became fascinated with what money could do for him and how he could
manipulate it.
When
Rockefeller entered the work force at the age of 16, he quickly became an asset
to his employer because he was useful in collecting overdue money and saving
the company from losing too much money. He continued to flourish with his
business transactions—including his own business that he started when he was
20—and became incredibly successful.
In
1863 Rockefeller saw an opportunity for turning his small businesses into a
larger, more successful entrepreneurship—oil. It was found in 1859 that oil
could be pumped from the ground like water and used for a variety of useful
products. Rockefeller saw the usefulness of drilling for oil in Cleveland
because of the nearby railroads as well as the waterways; he saw the
opportunity for large expansion and demand of goods by the public. Rockefeller,
however, did not simply just want to drill for oil and sell it, he wanted to
run every aspect of the process of drilling, storing, refining, and shipping so
as to create the least amount of waste possible at the best possible prices. He
was a man who wanted to do a lot with little money so as to multiply his
productivity and overall costs.
Rockefeller
was in business with many, including his own family particularly his brother
William. William was included in many of John D.’s business deals/plans and
investments (later John’s son, John D. Jr., would also play a great part in the
family business). However, as the corporation—Standard Oil as it would later be
known as—grew, so did those involved with the management and owning of it. With
10 years, many stockholders, business partners and what the corporation did as
a whole was kept a secret. This secrecy allowed for further development of the
company without their needing to worry about the competition. Since the
competition did not know what was happening and who was involved, they could
not worry about their own spot in the economic world of oil. Rockefeller had
people—investors, businessmen, and management—everywhere and wherever he turned
he could find someone who was doing business with him. This secrecy would later
be his demise of reputation that he would strive to reconcile for the rest of
his life but would never fully recover.
By
1904 80% of the American people were served by Standard Oil either to
businesses or homes. Standard Oil aimed to dominate every aspect related to the
oil world, and so, it became highly disliked by the American public. It had
very quickly turned into a monopoly.
With
this monopoly and secrets came acts that were misunderstood and misinterpreted
by the American public. While Rockefeller realized in the late 1890’s that he
had done enough for the corporation, he was asked to stay on as simply the
“primus inter pares” or the “first among his peers.” This meant that he did not
dictate policy; he was simply there as someone the rest could look up to as
somewhat of a big brother. This, however, was not publicly known and his
official retirement was also not known. Therefore, the turn of Standard Oil and
the rise of prices by John Archibold were credited to Rockefeller inaccurately.
Rockefeller had no hand in the negative turn of the company but he would become
the greatest oil and business villain of America and the time. His later good
works and philanthropic deeds would not fully wipe clean the darkened taint of
the villain.
Scarsdale Vibe and Rockefeller
It
is important to note—before delving into the comparison of Scarsdale Vibe to
John D. Rockefeller—that Scarsdale seems to be borrowed from the town of
Scarsdale, New York. According to CNN Money, Scarsdale was third on the list of
“top earning towns” in 2011 and makes it one of the wealthiest communities in
the entire United States.
Scarsdale
Vibe is portrayed by Thomas Pynchon to be the “most ruthless of the mine
owners” in all of the novel/time and seems to have his hand in just about all
business that is taking place. He—or one of his many relatives—seems to pop up
in the most unlikely of all places, always shrouded in secrecy and disliked by
the general public. This is, in some ways, similar to Rockefeller. Rockefeller
also hand his hand in many venues—all facets dealing with oil; the University
of Chicago; Rockefeller Sanitary Commission—and brought his family along to
partake in the business—including his brother and his eldest son—to aid in the
management and growth of the family fortune.
While
John D. Rockefeller is not blatantly credited with any harmful actions—unlike
Scarsdale who blatantly shoots a woman in the first 100 pages—he was seen as a
villain who had his hand in far too many places. Scarsdale is similar in this
way because he is generally disliked by the public and not trusted because of
the power that comes with who he is and what he can do.
In
both cases, money is power and this power has great repercussions. Although the
public feared/disliked both men, there was little they could do because they
were nowhere near the level of power of these men. Villains can always reign
because of the power they secure and continue to maintain.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency
The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency enforced public law for the coal industry. There methods, though, were far from humane. This was not necessarily because of the members, but that they worked for the coal operators themselves. They often used brutal repressive policies to keep miners in order. Founded in the early 1980s by William G. Baldwin and Thomas L. Felts, the original reason the agency was established was to police and protect railroads. With the booming coal industry, the agency quickly expanded its business. When coal mine operators hired these guards, their main focus was to prevent miner’s from organizing unions.
These Guards, called “thugs” by the miners, managed to break up a miner strike at the New River Field in 1902. However in 1912, when they tried to stop the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike, the miners resisted violently. The fight resulted in deaths of not only miners and bystanders, but also many guards. Following this event, in 1920, the union organization (United Mine Workers of America) began striking along the Tug Fork. The agency acted again in what would be know as the Matewan Massacre of May 19th. Guards began evicting families from their homes, much to the miner’s distaste. Led by police chief Sid Hatfield, the angry miners killed seven detectives. Two of them were members of the Felt’s family (Al and Lee Felts).
How it relates to Pynchon
Stray and Ewball are heading to the Coalfields of Colorado during the Ludlow Masscre, something that Stray mentions often on page 976. This is a brief mention, but it is clear that Stray is in Ludlow and we will be seeing more of what is going on.
Following this the next time were hear about Ludlow is on page 1004 when Frank is thinking about his future meeting up with Stray. In the scene, Frank brings up how it seemed that there were more dogs around than usual, later saying it was as if they were being brought away from the canyons so they were not exposed to the violence coming in the canyons, aka the massacre.
Shortly after this we see a scene directly discussing the agency. On pages 1008-11 there is discussion of a camp at Ludlow. The brutality of the guards is discussed in vivid and graphic detail. It discusses how they would rape women and beat up children who made fun of them, much like what we hear the Baldwin-Felts Agency took part in. It also mentions what seems like a tank that the agency created to keep large unruly crowds at bay. Jesse finds out that there are many of these tanks and finds it ironic that the guards speak of it as if it is the victim. Pynchon also mentions the Paint Creek-Cabin strike directly on page 1009.
Sources:
http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/333
http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/532
http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/333
http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/532
http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2008/01/lengthiest-murder-trial-in-wv-history.htm
The Palmer Raids
The U.S. Department of Justice attempts to arrest and deport radical leftists, and anarchists especially, is known as the Palmer Raids. Immediately following World War I, the raids occurred largely during the Red Scare. This term refers to the time immediately after the war, meaning "fear of and reaction against political radicals in the U.S.". Witnessed during the First World War, the United States saw the immigrants and ethnic groups campaign against divided loyalties. Specific targets were Germans whose sympathies lay with their homeland and Irish whose countrymen were in revolt against America's ally, the United Kingdom. Instantly seeing this as a threat, President Wilson warned against these "hyphenated" Americans, stating they had "poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life.". In this statement made in 1916, Wilson continues to say that "such creatures of passion, disloyalty, and anarchy must be crushed out.". Three years later, after the anarchist bombings in April and June of 1919, it was made known that the threats Wilson feared had now become real. Palmer told the House Appropriations Committee in June of 1919 that all evidence was clear that the radicals would one day rise up and destroy the government. Having addressed this concern and potential fatal issue, General Attorney Palmer requested a increase in budget from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 to fund his investigations of the radicals, but only received and increase of $100,000. After his first attempt in a July 1919 raid, where the judge threw out the case because the radicals that were arrested only attempted to change the government by using their free right to speech, Palmer realized it was time to hunt down and exploit the more powerful immigration statues who authorized the deportation of alien anarchists, whether they were violent or not.
Born on May 4, 1872,
Palmer is best known for his role as Attorney General of the United States from March 5,
1919 to March 4, 1921. Though Palmer faced contest with other candidates who
attained stronger legal credentials, President Woodrow Wilson was backed up by
party officials and Palmer's colleagues on the Democratic National Committee to
appoint him into office. They argued that while the office had "great power
politically", they should not trust it to anyone who is not fully with
them, heart and soul. The one who pressed the president most with this fact was
his private secretary, Joseph Tumulty. Reminding the President several times of
his encouragement to appoint Palmer into office as Attorney General, Wilson
agreed by saying that Palmer was a "young, militant, progressive, and
fearless man."Certainly well liked and thought highly of by President
Woodrow Wilson, Palmer was nominated by the President to the Senate in February
of 1919 and assumed his office position in March.
Against the Day:
As the end of the novel mentions the Palmer Raids activity during the Red scare, we can see how Pynchon keeps up his views of war as a struggle between those who pursue power versus those who transcend it. A period of time immediately following WWI, proving there was unresolved conflict, the Palmer Raids are mentioned in relation to what is going on in the last scenes of the novel. From the beginning of Against the Day, Pynchon has given numerous, blunt indications on how he views war, or perhaps how he thinks others view war. In any case, the mention of the Palmer Raids as a reference to what Lew witnesses (pages. 1057-1058) shows us that same power struggle between the pursuers and the transcenders. As Lew reaches Carefree Court, he surprised to find people of all cultures, religions and ethnicity's gathered together in a way he never thought possible. In a state of shock, Lew questions whether these people could possibly be those same ones he once spent his life chasing after, longing to capture.He goes on to realize that the one thing all the people of such diverse backgrounds have in common was their survival of some cataclysmic tragedy that neither of them spoke about in detail. He relates such tragedies to the Palmer Raids. It can be assumed that Pynchon does this as a way to reflect how all these people are anarchists themselves. Showing his readers how he believes in the anarchist movement, Pynchon continues his theme of war even to the very end of the story.
References:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApalmerR.htm
http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mitchell_Palmer
Against the Day:
As the end of the novel mentions the Palmer Raids activity during the Red scare, we can see how Pynchon keeps up his views of war as a struggle between those who pursue power versus those who transcend it. A period of time immediately following WWI, proving there was unresolved conflict, the Palmer Raids are mentioned in relation to what is going on in the last scenes of the novel. From the beginning of Against the Day, Pynchon has given numerous, blunt indications on how he views war, or perhaps how he thinks others view war. In any case, the mention of the Palmer Raids as a reference to what Lew witnesses (pages. 1057-1058) shows us that same power struggle between the pursuers and the transcenders. As Lew reaches Carefree Court, he surprised to find people of all cultures, religions and ethnicity's gathered together in a way he never thought possible. In a state of shock, Lew questions whether these people could possibly be those same ones he once spent his life chasing after, longing to capture.He goes on to realize that the one thing all the people of such diverse backgrounds have in common was their survival of some cataclysmic tragedy that neither of them spoke about in detail. He relates such tragedies to the Palmer Raids. It can be assumed that Pynchon does this as a way to reflect how all these people are anarchists themselves. Showing his readers how he believes in the anarchist movement, Pynchon continues his theme of war even to the very end of the story.
References:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApalmerR.htm
http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mitchell_Palmer
The Most Dangerous Woman
Mother Jones was a legend of the labor movement in America as much for her work as for her legend; both were large. |
We are told that every American boy has the chance of
being president. I tell you that these little boys in the
iron cages would sell their chance any day for
good square meals and a chance to play.
It’s hard to put a timeline on her life because we are not sure even exactly when she was born, but events begin to take shape chronologically as Mary Harris obtains teaching credentials in Toronto, and when her family moves to the United States she begins teaching at a convent in Monroe, Michigan. Soon after, she tired of the teaching profession and began a trek to find herself, first in Chicago, then on to Memphis. In Memphis, she met and married George E. Jones, a member and organizer of the National Union of Iron Moulders, which became the International Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North America in 1861. She opened a Memphis dress shop just as war was breaking out between the States.
I have been in jail more than once and I expect to go again.
If you are too cowardly to fight, I will fight.
The yellow fever came to Memphis, on steamers from New Orleans and points south, before the war in 1855 and again in 1867. Each time was worse than the last, leading up to an 1873 outbreak that overall cost Memphis half its population to disease and flight from the disease, but in 1867 it was confined to the section of the city where it first appeared. It would also claim the lives of Mary’s husband and four children. All four children were under the age of five.Left with nothing, Mary went back to Chicago and opened another dressmaking business, only this time to lose everything in The Great Chicago Fire, which burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871.
From this loss was born Mother Jones, if not the nickname, the woman who joined an early version of the International Workers of the World, or IWW, not yet in its most famous form. The Knights of Labor, as they were known then, became associated with revolution and anarchy, two issues America was not ready to deal with so soon after Civil War, and Mary eventually wound up with the United Mineworkers Union. Workers were more frequently now hoping to be associated with Unions and not Knights or International images.
Your organization is not a praying institution.
It's a fighting institution. It's an educational institution
right along industrial lines.
Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!
Many events shaped her work and determination, from a religious upbringing to the Haymarket Riots and railroad strikes. The unions and workers by natural metamorphosis became involved with the American Socialist Party, and so did Mother Jones, which she was referred to for the first time in 1897 (Eric Arnesen, "A Tarnished Icon," Reviews in American History 30, no. 1 (2002): p.89).
Reese Blizzard, a West Virginia district
attorney, at her trial in 1902 for ignoring an
injunction banning meetings by striking miners:
“There sits the most dangerous woman in America. She crooks her
finger—twenty thousand contented men lay down.”
She spent her adult life involved in child labor laws through her connection to the Socialist Party, which at the time was at the forefront of the movement to outlaw child labor and put limits on the power of the corporations.
When she was denounced on the
floor of the United State Senate
as the "grandmother of all agitators."
I hope to live long enough to be
the great-grandmother of all agitators.
She will live forever in song, history and hymn.
At a 1916 address to a mass meeting of the wives of the striking
streetcar-men in New York City
If they want to hang me, let them. And on the scaffold
I will shout "Freedom for the working class!
In this photograph from her autobiography, Mother Jones leads a labor protest march in the heavy snow of the winter of 1914 to
the steps of the state capitol in Denver.
She celebrated her self-proclaimed 100th birthday on May 1, 1930 with her friends Walter and Lillie May Burgess, on their farm where she lived in what is now Adelphi, Maryland. She was filmed making a statement for a newsreel:
I have never had a vote, and I have
raised hell all over this country.
You don't need a vote to raise hell!
You need convictions and a voice!
When Frank returns to Denver by way of a caffeine-drenched boat trip to Texas, a state through which the ladies beg him to stay, he looks up from a drink to see his sister Lake’s long ago rejected suitor, Dr. Willlis Turnstone. His partner Dr. Zhao is engaged to Wren, who tells Frank that Estrella is “involved in some mysterious project down in the coalfields.” (996) This reawakens Frank’s revolutionary sensibilities, so of course he heads straight toward the conflict when others would head directly opposite.
The striking mine workers are beginning to swell ranks, and slowly surrounding the area around Ludlow and Walsenburg. Frank makes his way through the “Pinkerton-infested Denver & Rio Grande” (998) railroad highways through backwoods trails into Fort Garland.
Scarsdale Vibe is giving a speech alarmingly prescient of a certain recent “47% speech” to the robber barons at a retreat in the mountains. As Frank and Ewball pull him into their gunsights in Trinidad, they see what might not have been Mother Jones, herself being “invited” to leave town on this next train out. They know she will utilize her friendships to make a show of leaving long enough to “turn around and come right back.” (1004) The description Pynchon provides of her is through Frank’s judge of character, a refined and practiced art Frank came to live by and stay alive by. Frank and Ewball wind up flipping a quarter to decide who will shoot Vibe and who will shoot his bodyguard.
Mother Jones’ presence in Against The Day is Pynchon’s way of letting us know the shit is ready to hit the fan in Ludlow. Mother goes where she needs to be.
Mother with a none too comfortable-looking President Calvin Coolidge in 1924.
Sources:
http://motherjones175.wordpress.com/about/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/fever/peopleevents/e_1878.html
http://www.poemhunter.com/quotations/famous.asp?people=Mother%20Jones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84vSVvaGsE4
http://www.aflcio.org/About/Our-History/Key-People-in-Labor-History/Mother-Jones-1837-1930
http://notmytribe.com/2009/mother-jones-at-denver-capitol-steps-87481.html
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Madero Revolution
Porfirio Diaz:
was the President of Mexico from 1876 to 1911, Commonly considered by historians to have been a dictator, he is a controversial figure in Mexican history. His leadership was marked by significant internal stability but this stability only existed within his inner circle. Modernization and economic growth occurred but most of it did not benefit the majority of the Mexican population. A lot of the wealthy friends of Diaz forcibly acquired acres of land by the thousands, forcing many Mexicans into poverty. Diaz stayed in power for over 30 years by imprisoning or assassinating his opponents. DÃaz's regime grew unpopular due to repression and political stagnation, and he fell from power during the Mexican Revolution, after he had imprisoned his electoral rival Francisco Madero and declared himself the winner of an eighth term in office.
Francisco Madero:
was one of the strongest believers that President DÃaz should resign from power and not seek re-election. He created a political pamphlet entitled The Presidential Succession with the central idea of not re-electing Diaz. Madero traveled all across the country campaigning for his ideas and for his presidency.
Francisco I. Madero was a firm supporter of democracy and of making government subject to the strict limits of the law, and the success of Madero's movement made him a threat in the eyes of President DÃaz. Shortly before the elections of 1910, Madero was apprehended in Monterrey and imprisoned in San Luis by Diaz and once imprisoned Diaz declared himself the winner. With his fathers influence and money Madero was released from prison on the grounds that he could not leave the city of San Luis. But Madero met a man who was friends with Doroteo Arango, better known as Pancho Villa. With the help of Villa Madero fled to the United States in October of 1910. In exile, he issued the ''Plan of San Luis,'' a manifesto which declared that the elections had been a fraud and that he would not recognize Porfirio DÃaz as the legitimate President of the Republic.
Instead, Madero made the daring move of declaring himself President Pro-Temp until new elections could be held. Madero's call for an uprising on November 20th, 1910, marked the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.
Pancho Villa:
A commander of the north division for Madero and played a huge role in Madero’s escape from San Luis as well as the growth in Madero’s following. Many of the followers for Madero were there because of Pancho Villa, militarily or otherwise. With the help of Villa Madero was able to overthrow Diaz and take over as President of Mexico. this gave Villa a lot of power.
Without Villa one could argue that Madero would have never overthrown Diaz, and possibly never have started a Revolution in the first place.
Against The Day
The book chronicles some of the aftermath of the Battle at Casa Grandes. Casa Grandes was a big loss for Madero and showed his lack of military experience. There also seems to possibly be some type of time travel going on, because it would be hard to believe that archaeologists would set up a site right where a war is going on. I also wonder if this is a flashback (pg 377) or a dream sequence for Frank. It is interesting to note that the battle is going on near a church during holy week, again bringing religion into the conversation. Its interesting that Pynchon picked the Casa Grandes battle because it wasnt a major battle in terms of the whole revolution. In fact, the only significance to it is that it was more of Pancho Villa’s battle because the majority of the soldiers were his. The Casa Grandes battle was the first battle of the Madero Revolution and also had the most casualties for Madero.
Sources:
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch03mex.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Villa
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2824-the-mexican-revolution-1910
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The Tunguska Event: An Enduring Mystery
The
Tunguska Event refers to the so- far unexplained explosion that occurred on Jun 30 1908 in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Because of
its remote locale there were few casualties but its area of devastation
extended for miles and its aftermath can be seen today. One of its most
peculiar aspects, and one which has given rise to a host of speculative
theories, is its lack of an identifiable impact crater. Scientists disagree on
how powerful the blast was, but even conservatively, it would have been
tremendous. One scholarly article posits that, “The Tunguska Event has
been variously estimated as liberating between 4 X 10 23 (ref 14) to
4 X 10 25 erg. (ref. 12) or 10 X 10 3 megatons.” (Chyba, Thomas, etc.) So how big is that? About 1,000 times more
powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. (Wikipedia).
The Tunguska Event was more than capable of wiping out a major metropolitan
area.
Possible
Explanations for the Tunguska Event are:
Celestial Body explosion:
Either a meteoroid, comet or asteroid that exploded in Earth’s low atmosphere
that produced devastating effects for miles around without leaving a visible
(or so far undiscovered) impact crater. This is the generally agreed upon
scientific theory, with a meteoroid being the most likely candidate as to what
exploded.
Spontaneous Nuclear explosion: Some scientists theorize that a comet containing deuterium underwent a nuclear reaction as it burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. While this conceivably explains the blast radius, the lack of radioactive isotopes found at the site limits this theory's general acceptance.
Other Explanations: Black Holes, Antimatter, Mirror Worlds, and UFO's. Obviously, the absence of hard scientific data limits these theories to the fringes of scientific debate concerning the Tunguska Event. Essentially, none of the above theories can be ruled out, which undoubtedly is one of the reasons for the lasting curiosity regarding this mysterious occurrence.
What it means to the novel:
It
is not surprising that Pynchon uses the Tunguska Event in his fiction. It has
the Pynchon hallmarks of being mysterious in origin, little known historically,
and open to endless interpretation. Pynchon’s descriptions from his novel touch
on these themes, as when he writes, “…, the error of the seismographs
recordings more than embraced the “instant” in which a hitherto unimagined
quantum of energy had entered the equations of history.” (AGAINST THE DAY 797). What this means is that here is something new, in a novel that is all about
viewing the traditional in nontraditional ways, and is bound to have greater
significance as the story continues.
A Pynchon novel, however, is more
than a collection of scientific observations, and so to Pynchon the Event may
have human origins, as hard as that is to comprehend. Pynchon writes, “Was it,
to be blunt, the general war which Europe this summer and autumn would stand at
the threshold of, collapsed into a single event?” (AGAINST THE DAY 797). This interpretation is especially
interesting, because it is very close to the so called Mirror World theory,
which theorizes that an immense explosion in a parallel, yet close dimension was
the cause of the Tunguska Event.
The
human element can also be seen in Hunter Penhallow's following observation“…, as
if to make sure it had not moved or disappeared, this gift from far away,
perhaps another Krakatoa, no one knew, perhaps the deep announcement in the
Creation, with nothing now ever to be the same,…” (AGAINST THE DAY 798). Here we see Pynchon’s enduring theme of hope
for redemption, in which the characters daily wage a battle between wanting a better future with the intrusion of the past into their present lives.
Sources
wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event
http://www.igpp.ucla.edu/public/mkivelso/refs/PUBLICATIONS/Chyba%20Tunguska.pdf
AGAINST THE DAY Thomas Pynchon
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The Balkan Wars
The Balkans are located adjacent to the Ionian Sea, just to the north of the Mediterranean Sea, East of Italy, and South of Eastern Europe. Due to it's central location between the Middle East, Europe and Africa, it is a point of convergence of many different cultures, religions and languages. This are is currently comprised of many different countries including : Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and contains parts of many other countries such as Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey.
The Ottoman Empire had controlled virtually all of the Balkan Territories for nearly half a millennium. A war broke out between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League, comprised of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro, in 1912, which resulted in the Balkan League dispelling the Ottoman Empire from the area and gaining control of the land for themselves.
The war was fought over the oppressive nature of the Ottoman Empire against the governments in the territories that it controlled, but also over the territory itself. Liberating Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire was one of the reasons that the countries had banded together in the first place, but the post war negotiations ended up being a disaster.
The war was fought over the oppressive nature of the Ottoman Empire against the governments in the territories that it controlled, but also over the territory itself. Liberating Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire was one of the reasons that the countries had banded together in the first place, but the post war negotiations ended up being a disaster.
Macedonia, being a major piece of territory that was controlled byt the Ottoman Empire before the war, was afterwards split up between the other victorious countries as a spoil of war instead of being given the status of a sovereign nation like had originally been intended. The people of Macedonia, though loudly complaining about their unfortunate situation, were ignored split, decimated, and controlled under the new political situation even more than before under the Ottoman Empire.
Even though the Ottoman Empire was defeated in 1912, the second war in the Balkans broke out in the next year in 1913. At this time, the Ottoman Empire was defeated again and they signed a treaty in which they lost all of their European Territory. During the war, the Ottoman Empire suffered nearly 30,000 in casualties while the other countries lost nearly 55,000 combined. The Balkan wars are considered to be one of the factors that lead into World War I. The main references to the Balkans start on page 689, when Lew is talking with Professor Renfrew. The professor pulls down a big map of the Balkans and begins philosophizing on the best way to look at the situation in the Balkans.
There are many brief references to the Balkan Conflicts throughout the entirety of Against the Day, which goes to show that it was a very prominent and important topic during this time period. Everyone was talking about it because the remnants of the Ottoman Empire were being expelled, and new political powers were coming into being. The Balkans Wars directly lead up to World War I because of all the switching of territories that had been going on, as well as the alliances that were being formed.
Sources:
Sources:
Early Twentieth Century Spy Novels
Novels depicting espionage and world wide fight via an "undercover agent" is normal in today's sense. It can be in literature, movies, video games, tv shows, music, and so much more. This genre stems from novel literature of the early 1900's. This sub genre known as spy fiction has popularized to common knowledge. Even though it has been regarded as a bit of pop culture excitement from movies and the like, the early novels that began the hype of this genre had real life consequences.
The novel The Riddle of the Sands, was had real life reprecussions due to the story. The plot is about how two friends go on a boating holiday and end up discovering German ships prepped for battle. Great Britain credited the author of this novel to increased naval protection on various sides of the nation. The author, Erskine Childers had direct experience as a sailor in the area and his novel's accuracy of the area proved this to be fact. This was also the first spy novel and set the standard for the way that spy novels were to be written. This includes a great deal of detail and a large amount of real life accuracy.
The novel Greenmantle by John Buchan plays along the same lines. It sets the global stage for the story of espionage. In this story the main character brings along his friend on an adventure to uncover some rumors of Germans. The rumor is that they are plotting an uprising in the Muslim world. It would put all of the Middle East, India and North Africa into turmoil. The characters uncover the truth, are chased down by the bad guys, and end up winning in the end due to Russian forces. The characters are not the best suited for the job and yet still accept on grounds of "duty". They must then use any means necessary to complete the mission. Breaking into houses, stealing cars and more is all expected. Also, for the most part their own well being is disregarded by themselves because they have been tasked with something that "must be done". These are all common characteristics found in most spy novels. This novel helped set the stage for how this genre is approached.
Against the Day
These novels are only mentioned once. This was on page 632 when Kit is speaking with Lionel Swome from T.W.I.T. and the plan for Kit to move into Inner Asia. The mentioned part is when Swome is mentioning the idea of pulling Kit out of the "mission" at any moment and that if every way of pulling him out was thought up, then a spy novel could be made.
What can be pulled from this section would've been the themes of the characteristics of a spy novel. The following of the characters as the have secret meetings, the two N's reporting back to headquarters on Lew's progress, and Yashmeen and Kit's undercover alias as newlyweds in order to get out of the city. Cyprian's escape from Vienna follows this same ploy of that of a spy novel. He has a friend who has "connections" sneak him out through a sewer system in a hotel. This is all lead by his liasson who is basically his handler and sets him up to be assigned somewhere. Yashmeen is set up to be a dressmaker nearby which is an undercover bit for the T.W.I.T. And then Kit following through with his mission to Mr. Halfcourt's home. This novel has increasing number of characteristics that would set it up to be a spy novel.
Sources:
Fowler, Carol. "Erskine Childers' Log Books." Sailing Today 80 (2003): n. pag. : Maritime History In-depth : Sea & Ships : Explore Online : RMG.
National Maritime Museum, 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/in-depth/erskine-childers/>.
Knightley, Phillip. The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century. London: Pimlico, 2003. Print.
Young Turks Revolution
Young
Turks Revolution
The Young Turks were a secularist national reform party. They later became officially known as the Committee of Union and Progress. In 1878, Sultan Abdul Hamid II suspended the Turkish Constitution. The Young Turks supported the constitution and wanted a democratic solution to the problems within the Ottoman Empire, which included economic and tax reforms. In addition to the suspended constitution, the Young Turks Revolution took issue with the increased centralized government, the loss of territory, and the assassination or exile that occurred for any that opposed the sultan.
The
revolution was sped up by an announcement by Austria of a railroad
being built that would bring the western portion of the Balkan
peninsula under Austrian influence. This announcement hastened the
rebellion because it showed the power that the Sultan had to give up
territory and the power that outside influences had.
Beginning on July 6, 1908, the Young Turks led a rebellion against the Sultan. This rebellion was later deemed the Young Turks Revolution. The revolution was strongly influenced by the French Revolution and aimed at restoring the Empire's constitution. It is interesting to note that while the revolution mirrored some of the revolutions and written constitutions in Europe, like the French Revolution, it also aimed at dismissing European influences and interference. Foreigners thought little of the rebellion at first, but had to take notice as the revolution grew rapidly.
Beginning on July 6, 1908, the Young Turks led a rebellion against the Sultan. This rebellion was later deemed the Young Turks Revolution. The revolution was strongly influenced by the French Revolution and aimed at restoring the Empire's constitution. It is interesting to note that while the revolution mirrored some of the revolutions and written constitutions in Europe, like the French Revolution, it also aimed at dismissing European influences and interference. Foreigners thought little of the rebellion at first, but had to take notice as the revolution grew rapidly.
Some
participants wanted to abolish the position of the sultan while most
simply wanted to impose constitutional limitations on the sultan's
power. A number of Turks had been exiled from the Ottoman Empire,
many finding homes in Paris and Geneva. It was these individuals, as
well as Western-Oriented secularists, reform-minded pluralists,
Turkish nationalists, and anyone that blamed the Sultan for the state
of the Ottoman Empire, that joined the Young Turks Revolution.
The
Sultan tried multiple times to end the revolution by sending out
military troops; however, soldiers were unpaid and officers could not
keep order or hide their dissatisfaction with the Sultan. Because of
this, the revolution actually gained popularity among the troops and
the Sultan's attempts to end the rebellion failed further. The Sultan
then surrendered by granting a constitution and restoring parliament.
The rebellion lasted from 1908 until 1909. After the Revolution, the
Young Turks, ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1908 until the end of
World War I in 1918. As a part of their rule, the Young Turks also
established the Second Constitutional Era.
Application to Against The Day:
For this topic, Pynchon discusses the politics surrounding the geography, religion and nationalism of southeastern Europe: this discussion must include Turkey and the Young Turks Revolution. This week's reading of Against the Day has a few references to the Young Turk Revolution.
One of those is when Cyprian and Danilo arrive in Salonica. They "find the city still reverberating like a struck gong" because of the conflict between the sultan and the Young Turks (842). This section of text discusses the activities of the Young Turkey Party and the Committee of Union and Progress, as it became later known. Another is when Ratty is discussing Turkey and Bosnia. I found that a main topic for this section is the geopolitics surrounding Turkey and Austria. Ratty mentions the removal of Bosnia from Turkey to place it under “Austrian 'protection'” (809). The loss of territory was one of the big components that led to the Young Turks Revolution. The nationalist movements were trying to find or create identities from below against authoritarian forces. This is seen prevalently in the history of the Ottoman Empire, and really, in the anarchism found throughout the novel as a whole. Many characters are seen as “below” but are working to find their way above and to create an identity. The “below” idea fits extremely well into the miners in Colorado whom are literally underground without identities.
Within last week's section of the reading, the Young Turk Revolution is prevalent
mostly in references to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. Russians aimed
to access the Mediterranean Sea and liberate Orthodox Christians from
the Islamic-ruled Ottoman Empire. The Russo-Turkish War was one of
the sparks for the revolution. The Russo-Turkish War comes up again
in later sections mentioning the aftermath of the Turkish Revolution
and the changes it brought to the Ottoman Empire.
In
earlier sections, the “odalisque of the snows” (141) is
mentioned. An odalisque was a virgin slave within the harem of the
Turkish sultan. In this section, the extravagance of the Sultan is
shown. Both directly and indirectly, Pynchon uses the historical events surrounding the Young Turks to enrich his text.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The Russian Revolution 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
Bloody Sunday
In
1903, Russian workers were used to an 11 hour day throughout the week, with the
exception of Saturdays where only 10 were required. When pay was decreased in
1904 to offset a rise in the price of goods produced, the factory workers were
led by Father George Gapon and joined together in the Assembly of Russian
Workers. In this desperate need for change, 150,000 workers signed a petition
for an 8 hour workday, higher pay (including equal pay for women), improved
working conditions, medical care, and freedom of speech and press. On January
22, 1905 they marched peacefully to Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to present
the petition to Tsar Nicholas II and appeal for change, which was met with
immediate and brutal retaliation by the police force and the Cossacks resulting
in the massacre of 1,200 and casualties of 3,000 (although the “official”
numbers in Russia were drastically skewed to a mere 10% of the reality). These
numbers did not consist solely to those marching, but also included the unlucky
civilians that were caught in the crossfire when the protesters fled to nearby
houses for shelter from the attack. Considering this catastrophe could have
easily been avoided and ended peacefully, this tragedy was known henceforth as
“Bloody Sunday” and is considered to be what ignited the Russian Revolution of
1905.
Following Protests
Potemkin |
Immediately
students and middle-class workers protested with strikes and walk outs. Within
six months a widespread mutiny rose in the Army and Naval forces after hearing
news that a crew and firing squad aboard the Potemkin overthrew their captain for serving rotten meat. Finally,
at the close of the year the railroad workers joined the strike, essentially
crippling the Russian Railways. The people were banding together, and the Tsar
took the advice of his counsel and decided to placate them with the October
Manifesto in 1905. This document claimed to promise freedom of speech, trail
before imprisonment, and an organization called the Duma to approve of new laws
– although he retained the power to declare war, control the church, and
dissolve the Duma when he saw fit. When the Duma finally met in 1906, it
consisted of a very different structure than originally mentioned in the
Manifesto. In fact, when it attempted to make the changes that the people were
demanding (such as land reform) he dissolved it, only to reinstate and dissolve
yet again a year later in 1907.
Outcome
Overall,
the Russian Revolution of 1905 ended in 1907 without successfully removing the
Tsar or his tyrannical regime, but it did lay the groundwork for the future
revolution of 1917 which finally succeeded.
How it Relates to Against the Day
Nicholas II |
Russia’s struggles are paralleled
to America’s early in the text, when Webb’s temporary dynamite partner Veikko
mentions that “he’d never seen much difference between the Tsar’s regime and
American capitalism,” (83). Right away Pynchon distinguishes the workers
revolution from an “American” issue to a global problem, and emphasizes that it
comes in different forms of exploitation. Later, while the Chums of Chance visit
Candlebrow University, the secret Smegmo formula is referred to as “guarded
with a ruthlessness that would have embarrassed the Tsar of Russia,” (407). Here,
Pynchon is mocking how the Tsar of Russia reputed for over taxing the people
and spending immense funds from this fortune for his “protection” from the citizens
– likely because they weren't so fond of being over-taxed. Bloody
Sunday is most pointedly mentioned beginning a section, “That winter, in St.
Petersburg, troops at the Winter Palace fired thousands of unarmed strikers who
had marched there in respectfulness and innocence. Hundreds were killed and
wounded,” (595). The War Memorial
website supports the reference of the citizens being forced to flee following
the protests, shown just a just a few pages later, “By 1906 there were Russians everywhere, flown and fleeing westward,” (602). The Tsar is even tied to the
theme of multiple dimensions, “the Tsar can only be overthrown in three
[dimensions],” (616), which I took to be saying that even if the Tsar was
overthrown, it wouldn't be in the 4th dimension because the past can’t
be undone. Lastly, the significance of the Russian Revolution during the time
on the railroad system is emphasized with Swome saying “There’s never been a
revolution on quite that scale, you see, and it’s followed the railroads out
into Asia as well…” (630).
Sources
George Gapon The Story of my Life
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSsunday.htm
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSsunday.htm
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