Yeah. This is one of the most famous parts of the book, and for good reason. As you point out, it's the pivot for the reader to understand the relationship between Slothrop and America, or Slothrop's relationship to his Americanness.
Following my Deleuzian reading from college, I would resist the formulation Slothrop=America. Slothrop, I think, is *subject* in all the senses of that word: he is subjected to America. America (and the Zone, and capital itself) occupy the conceptual position of the Body without Organs, which can be thought of as the space in which the subject is formed, or the "socius"/social context, within which meaning is attached to words, and also meaning is de-attached, severed from words, "deterritorialized". The subject is formed not by submission but by conflict, disjunction, a ripping away of meaning and of the social supports that exist in a healthier society.
This is the lesson of the "Kenosha Kid" game -- it teaches us that words have only shifting, socially-dependent meanings. I'm going to quote myself here because no one should have to read through my thesis which is a tangled mess. In fact, when I went back to do this, I realized that I fucked up and hadn't posted Part II at all, that it was just a repetition of Part I, so I updated the post with the actual second third of my GR piece: https://thespouter.substack.com/p/a-schizoanalysis-of-gravitys-rainbow
The phrase “you never did the Kenosha Kid” is always presented in the same word order, but its meaning is manipulated. In the first instance, it is a response to a (somewhat paranoid) query from Slothrop: “Did I ever bother you, ever, for anything, in your life?” In this instance, the Kenosha Kid is an identity; there is a person named the Kenosha Kid. So we immediately have a schizophrenic formation of identity layered on top of what will immediately become a schizophrenic linguistic formation; in (2), the “Kenosha” becomes a dance step, and the “kid” becomes a different identity, the smartass youth. (2.1) illustrates that the schizophrenic formation must not always be so starkly opposed to itself; a subtle shift serves to attach a previous meaning to a new signifier—the dance that was once the “Kenosha” is now the “Kenosha Kid.” This is an important illustration that under a schizophrenic regime of signs, the confusion flows both ways; a single meaning can attach to multiple signs, just as multiple signs can refer to the same meaning. In (3), the “Kenosha Kid” is given another identity, a despot at the center of the Slothrop Affair, a figure of the “They” of Slothrop’s paranoia. In my reading, the Kenosha Kid retains this despotic character in (4), where he becomes the omnipotent despot at the center of a regime of signs; “he gave us in fiery letters across the sky all the words we’d ever need, words we today enjoy, fill our dictionaries with…” This is the origin of the sign as an arbitrary set of signifiers given to us by a despot under whose regime Slothrop rebels by questioning: “you never did ‘the,’ Kenosha Kid!” meaning that the Kenosha Kid forgot to impose his own significance upon that most common and fundamental word, ‘the.’ It is also in (4) that the text becomes self-aware, and gives the reader the setting in which the rest of the episode is to be told. Slothrop is undergoing drugged interrogation at the hand of PISCES, which is one of the organizations in Slothrop’s paranoiac plot. This frame story illustrates Deleuze and Guattari’s description of schizophrenia as “either/or…or…or,” multiple identities. Slothrop is either in the ‘reality’ of being interrogated by PISCES, or he is dancing (2), or he is an employee (3), etc. With initial awareness, Slothrop begins the process of struggling to awaken: “snap to, Slothrop.” But not before lapsing back into his schizophrenic linguistic delusions in (5). There follows one of the most humorous and memorable episodes in the novel: Slothrop narrates to his interrogators at PISCES the story of his journey down the toilet and into an alternate reality in pursuit of his lost harmonica. I will address this episode at more length later. At the end of this episode, Slothrop returns to the Kenosha Kid, for a seventh variation on the phrase:
In the shadows, black and white holding in a panda-pattern across his face, each of the regions a growth or mass of scar tissue, waits the connection he’s traveled all this way to see. The face is as weak as a house-dog’s, and its owner shrugs a lot.
Slothrop: Where is he? Why didn’t he show? Who are you?
Voice: The Kid got busted. And you know me, Slothrop. Remember? I’m Never.
Slothrop(peering): You, Never? (A pause.) Did the Kenosha Kid? (71)
Here again we see another schizophrenic identity of the Kenosha Kid. But this passage also gives another illustration of the ease and wit with which Pynchon employs schizophrenic language: the “connection” is not only a drug dealer, but also a textual connection, back to the beginning of the episode. This pun is one example of how intensely Pynchon interweaves textual self-reflection into the story—the story constantly refers back to itself. This self-referentiality gives the novel another vital component in its schizophrenic nature: along with all the other identities that the text signifies, it also signifies itself. Or, rather, because Slothrop has been seeking out the signifier “The Kenosha Kid”—a textual connection to the beginning of the episode—the text has only ever signified a search for itself.
Thanks for this insanely great analysis of the actual phrase itself. I was going to attempt an analysis of the individual parts but realized I wasn't exactly sure myself on how to go about it. But this helps tremendously.
I very much need to read "Capitalism and Schizophrenia" and "either/or" and am currently trying to get caught up on some of D&G's major influences (Hume at the moment) in order to fully appreciate them, but what you're saying about the KK's representation as a schizophrenic identity of Slothrop (eg. the American psyche, eg. a body without organs) is the perfect lens to view this passage through.
Also appreciate you always bringing up Pynchon's humor. I rarely mention but it is one of the best parts about his works. I recently mentioned TCoL49 at school and one teacher decided to get it and is reading it. They've already mentioned how brilliant is and how they were immediately drawn in by his humor and how he can fluidly go back and forth between the serious and the absurd. It's such a great method to draw readers in and to keep things simultaneously enlightening and just straight up fun.
This enlightening analysis made me think of McCarthy's Thalidomide Kid in "The Passenger". I cannot unsee how McCarthy is deliberately drawing a strong deep underground connection with the Kenosha Kid. A manifestation of the unconscious and language.
I thought the same thing when I first read The Passenger! I haven't actually ever tried to make sense of the connection, but I do feel like it was purposeful to some extent.
Yeah. This is one of the most famous parts of the book, and for good reason. As you point out, it's the pivot for the reader to understand the relationship between Slothrop and America, or Slothrop's relationship to his Americanness.
Following my Deleuzian reading from college, I would resist the formulation Slothrop=America. Slothrop, I think, is *subject* in all the senses of that word: he is subjected to America. America (and the Zone, and capital itself) occupy the conceptual position of the Body without Organs, which can be thought of as the space in which the subject is formed, or the "socius"/social context, within which meaning is attached to words, and also meaning is de-attached, severed from words, "deterritorialized". The subject is formed not by submission but by conflict, disjunction, a ripping away of meaning and of the social supports that exist in a healthier society.
This is the lesson of the "Kenosha Kid" game -- it teaches us that words have only shifting, socially-dependent meanings. I'm going to quote myself here because no one should have to read through my thesis which is a tangled mess. In fact, when I went back to do this, I realized that I fucked up and hadn't posted Part II at all, that it was just a repetition of Part I, so I updated the post with the actual second third of my GR piece: https://thespouter.substack.com/p/a-schizoanalysis-of-gravitys-rainbow
The phrase “you never did the Kenosha Kid” is always presented in the same word order, but its meaning is manipulated. In the first instance, it is a response to a (somewhat paranoid) query from Slothrop: “Did I ever bother you, ever, for anything, in your life?” In this instance, the Kenosha Kid is an identity; there is a person named the Kenosha Kid. So we immediately have a schizophrenic formation of identity layered on top of what will immediately become a schizophrenic linguistic formation; in (2), the “Kenosha” becomes a dance step, and the “kid” becomes a different identity, the smartass youth. (2.1) illustrates that the schizophrenic formation must not always be so starkly opposed to itself; a subtle shift serves to attach a previous meaning to a new signifier—the dance that was once the “Kenosha” is now the “Kenosha Kid.” This is an important illustration that under a schizophrenic regime of signs, the confusion flows both ways; a single meaning can attach to multiple signs, just as multiple signs can refer to the same meaning. In (3), the “Kenosha Kid” is given another identity, a despot at the center of the Slothrop Affair, a figure of the “They” of Slothrop’s paranoia. In my reading, the Kenosha Kid retains this despotic character in (4), where he becomes the omnipotent despot at the center of a regime of signs; “he gave us in fiery letters across the sky all the words we’d ever need, words we today enjoy, fill our dictionaries with…” This is the origin of the sign as an arbitrary set of signifiers given to us by a despot under whose regime Slothrop rebels by questioning: “you never did ‘the,’ Kenosha Kid!” meaning that the Kenosha Kid forgot to impose his own significance upon that most common and fundamental word, ‘the.’ It is also in (4) that the text becomes self-aware, and gives the reader the setting in which the rest of the episode is to be told. Slothrop is undergoing drugged interrogation at the hand of PISCES, which is one of the organizations in Slothrop’s paranoiac plot. This frame story illustrates Deleuze and Guattari’s description of schizophrenia as “either/or…or…or,” multiple identities. Slothrop is either in the ‘reality’ of being interrogated by PISCES, or he is dancing (2), or he is an employee (3), etc. With initial awareness, Slothrop begins the process of struggling to awaken: “snap to, Slothrop.” But not before lapsing back into his schizophrenic linguistic delusions in (5). There follows one of the most humorous and memorable episodes in the novel: Slothrop narrates to his interrogators at PISCES the story of his journey down the toilet and into an alternate reality in pursuit of his lost harmonica. I will address this episode at more length later. At the end of this episode, Slothrop returns to the Kenosha Kid, for a seventh variation on the phrase:
In the shadows, black and white holding in a panda-pattern across his face, each of the regions a growth or mass of scar tissue, waits the connection he’s traveled all this way to see. The face is as weak as a house-dog’s, and its owner shrugs a lot.
Slothrop: Where is he? Why didn’t he show? Who are you?
Voice: The Kid got busted. And you know me, Slothrop. Remember? I’m Never.
Slothrop(peering): You, Never? (A pause.) Did the Kenosha Kid? (71)
Here again we see another schizophrenic identity of the Kenosha Kid. But this passage also gives another illustration of the ease and wit with which Pynchon employs schizophrenic language: the “connection” is not only a drug dealer, but also a textual connection, back to the beginning of the episode. This pun is one example of how intensely Pynchon interweaves textual self-reflection into the story—the story constantly refers back to itself. This self-referentiality gives the novel another vital component in its schizophrenic nature: along with all the other identities that the text signifies, it also signifies itself. Or, rather, because Slothrop has been seeking out the signifier “The Kenosha Kid”—a textual connection to the beginning of the episode—the text has only ever signified a search for itself.
Thanks for this insanely great analysis of the actual phrase itself. I was going to attempt an analysis of the individual parts but realized I wasn't exactly sure myself on how to go about it. But this helps tremendously.
I very much need to read "Capitalism and Schizophrenia" and "either/or" and am currently trying to get caught up on some of D&G's major influences (Hume at the moment) in order to fully appreciate them, but what you're saying about the KK's representation as a schizophrenic identity of Slothrop (eg. the American psyche, eg. a body without organs) is the perfect lens to view this passage through.
Also appreciate you always bringing up Pynchon's humor. I rarely mention but it is one of the best parts about his works. I recently mentioned TCoL49 at school and one teacher decided to get it and is reading it. They've already mentioned how brilliant is and how they were immediately drawn in by his humor and how he can fluidly go back and forth between the serious and the absurd. It's such a great method to draw readers in and to keep things simultaneously enlightening and just straight up fun.
This enlightening analysis made me think of McCarthy's Thalidomide Kid in "The Passenger". I cannot unsee how McCarthy is deliberately drawing a strong deep underground connection with the Kenosha Kid. A manifestation of the unconscious and language.
I thought the same thing when I first read The Passenger! I haven't actually ever tried to make sense of the connection, but I do feel like it was purposeful to some extent.
Loved this, really helped deepen my understanding of a challenging passage that I just KNEW had more to it than shit and racism.