Gravity's Rainbow - Part 4 - Chapter 8: Alliterative Anarchy
Analysis of Gravity's Rainbow, Part 4 - Chapter 8: The Gross Suckling Conference, Beaver and Roger, Stefan Utgarthaloki's Dinner Party, the Alliterative Menu
The Resolution of the Gross Suckling Conference, according to our epigraph, is that a nation should exist for the people within it, not for the institutions and corporations it raises up. This conference occurs in a pub in Cuxhaven1, attended by Ensign Morituri, Carroll Eventyr, Thomas Gwenhidwy, and Roger Mexico, four members of the Counterforce.2 They are discussing the concept of Northward travel. It is rare that you hear of a story where an adventurer or explorer travels purposefully North. Westward expansion occurred originally for colonization, the desired experience of true adventure, and for the furtherance of capital. Eastward travels are characterized through religious or spiritual experience and enlightenment (which, truth be told, on average leads to the same thing that Westward travel does). And Southward travel largely encompasses blatant oppression or societal interventionism (i.e. CIA intervention in South America, or German intervention in Southwest Africa). But Northward? Well, Northward is "The escape route of the Anubis. The Kirghiz Light. The Herero country of death" (706). These northward entities are things inexplicable through our tangible senses. The Herero country of death is a realm that we cannot perceive. The Kirghiz Light is a phenomenon we cannot comprehend. The hiding place of the true Elite class is a place we can never find. They are the unobservable realms that humanity has wanted to understand since our first stories.
The Counterforce is deciphering the bearing of the 00000 Rocket: which direction it was fired toward. And that direction was due North — True North — though they themselves do not know what we (or some other characters) know: the location the Rocket was fired from. This northward trajectory, deciphered through the analyses of the compass rose vectors, suggests that Blicero’s goal of firing the Rocket due North was to discover the North’s incomprehensibility with his own desire of synthesis and control — or, to put it otherwise, to calculate and derive the currently unknown method that would achieve the possible command over both mechanisms. And, of course, to truly Ascend to the Godly realms.
The Counterforce conducts these calculations “Under The Sign Of The Gross Suckling,” or “Der Grob Säugling” — “a loathsomely fat drooling infant” (707). Roger himself pictures this infant as ‘Beaver,’ the man whom Jessica left him for. The lot of them — Roger, Jessica, and ‘Beaver’/Jeremy — are all trying to make things work: Roger keeping things friendly with Jessica, thus having to, in some sense, befriend Beaver. And while this ‘friendship’ may seem amicable on the surface, Roger, who now represents a member of the Counterforce who has been disenfranchised by the capitalist state and the military industrial complex, acts as a stark counterpoint to Beaver’s far more right-wing — likely, self-described ‘centrist’ — neoliberalism. Beaver’s political mind is akin to the modern neoliberal who Pynchon would be talking about in the ’60s and ’70s given his penchant for seeming like a ‘sane’ and ‘rational’ centrist — one who is “of liberal mind” (707) and who wants to break down certain barriers to make society a more equitable place — while also being the type who sees something like a rocket and decides the only possible thing someone can do is not to dismantle them and end the destruction they’ve caused, but to launch it if only to see what would happen. The Rockets that Beaver has and wants to launch were gathered through Operation Backfire, where groups such as TsAGI went out into the German Zone to scavenge for A4/V-2 Rocket parts. Thus, Beaver’s supposedly innocent desire to launch them is in reality an advocation for the furtherance of military weapons testing to proceed into the next half of the century.
Beaver invited Mexico to an “informal party at the home of Stefan Utgarthaloki, an ex-member of management at the Krupp works here in Cuxhaven” (709). Utgarthaloki plays on the name of the Norse God Loki, and this thus represents the myth in which Loki invited Thor to dinner, where he proceeded to produce illusions on Thor that caused him to lose contests and eventually to leave in a hungover drunken stupor. And the Krupp works (as discussed in 3.31), was a weapons manufacturer that used slave labor from concentration camps. So, what Mexico will be attending is an analogue for that Norse myth along with it being a literal banquet for the upper-class shareholders, owners, and higher-ups in weapons manufacturing.
Mexico does have a bit of fear in attending this event given it will likely have people who had heard about his pissing incident in the office of Mossmoon, if not some of the same members themselves. For a bit of safety, or even just some companionship, Mexico brings along Seaman Bodine, still here in Cuxhaven after Slothrop’s departure. Bodine still has the characteristics discussed earlier, being a satirical and humorous foreteller of the future. Earlier, he hosted prearranged battles that were bet on by the citizens apart of the ‘nations’ that these soldiers fought for, except that his battles were done with runcible spoons as opposed to weapons of mass destruction — hence the satirical foretelling. Here, this idea of satire is brought back — through Bodine’s and Mexico’s faux-fights with dildoes — in order to comment on what is about to occur at the coming ‘informal’ dinner.
As they arrive at the dinner, they hear the “string quartet that’s playing tonight,” which happens to include “Gustav Schlabone, Säure Bummer’s frequent unwelcome doping partner” (711) — the same Gustav who Säure Bummer had arguments with regarding the superiority of Beethoven versus Rossini. Gustav was the proponent of Beethoven since he preferred the darker, more pessimistic German mindset of the era. He is here, known aptly as ‘Captain Horror,’ ready to provide the backing track for the coming scene. Oddly enough, building on the coming satire, this string quartet which usually would be playing Schlabone’s dark pessimism, has the ‘Kazoo’ Quartet coming in the lineup. Bodine comments that the Kazoo Quartet has been suppressed due to the ‘sound-shadow’ qualities it possesses, hiding away the meaning of a certain thing we should know, but that some entity considers too dangerous to be common knowledge. The sound here is represented by the musical notation fff, fortississimo, which blocks out the messages being told somewhere in the background, while the sound-shadow is represented by the notation ppp, pianississimo, which allows the background noise to shine through.3
The people at this dinner party are there either in the flesh or in ‘spirit.’ First, in the flesh, other than Mexico, Bodine, Beaver, Jessica, Gustav, and Utgarthaloki, we have “Reps from ICI and GE,” (712) British and American companies, respectively, which participated in the recovery of A4/V-2 rockets and their return to America. Secondly, only there in the spiritual sense, are Slothrop and his mother Nalline. Slothrop, as stated both earlier (4.1) and here, has been “Scattered all over the Zone” (712). Slothrop (as we know from his scattering in 4.1) represents a realization of what the world is turning into with its numerous forms of exploitation and control, and the hope that a Preterite like Slothrop could take the helm. Nalline (as seen in 4.6: subsection, Mom Slothrop’s Letter to Ambassador Kennedy) is the future ‘parent’ — a person who is willing to sell their child and put their child’s safety at risk in order to ‘make it’ in the world. The former is likely the spirit of the Counterforce members, while the latter is likely that of the Elites.
The scene which we have built in front of us has numerous hints so far. Please allow me a brief recap. Firstly, the party is hosted by one Stefan Utgarthaloki whose surname alludes to Loki’s dinner party in which he presented illusions to Thor, making Thor believe he was losing every contest when in reality, the tasks he was set up to complete were far more impossible to actually complete than they appeared. So, we will be seeing some tasks which would initially appear, or even truly be, unfeasible, but will actually only be unfeasible due to illusion. Secondly, the ‘Kazoo’ Quartet and its qualities shows that this presented illusion will at some point reach a sound-shadow to reveal its reality to us. Thirdly, given Bodine is here, this revelation will likely be a comical or satirical representation of something that will occur in America’s (or the Western Capitalist world’s) future — likely in the 60s. And finally, the ICI and GE are the Elite class attending this dinner who would be trying to hide the message behind the ‘sound,’ while Slothrop’s revelations throughout the novel and subsequent scattering is another clue that the sound will be muted for just a moment.
Before the events of the dinner begin, Roger daydreams about the wealth he is seeing at the tables — how so many others who see this absurd level of wealth do not even bat an eye at the immorality of it. Most will look on and either believe it is a natural process of life or will believe they can reach that level and so will do nothing about it. This is why They allow us to get a glimpse of Their lives. We see Their elaborate dinner parties, just as Mexico and Bodine see now, and desire this to be a common occurrence in our own lives, not realizing that freedom, community, and even some of the finer things like good drink and food, can be achieved by all, as long as the insane heights and frequencies of them being concentrated on a select few were distributed instead of hoarded. Roger thus thinks of Thermidor, the counterrevolutionary phase, or “the failed Counterforce” (713). When a proletariat have finally had enough of the Elite being the only class able to indulge in these luxuries, they will incite a revolution. And in failed revolutions, Thermidor eventually comes where things begin fizzling out, returning to normalcy, as if nothing has changed. This is because our anger and outcry “will help legitimize Them” (713). Like so many revolutionary minds, they will often be smirked and scoffed at as ‘people who have good intentions,’ but who are not realistic in their desires. This type of belief leads the rest of those in the same proletariat class to falsely believe that revolution is a fantasy, and that an upper- and lower-class power structure is all that is possible.
The music, in all of its fffs and ppps, begins to play — “the background music for what is to transpire” (713) in which silences will reveal reality. The food of various elaborate types flows out to the tables. Bodine, as a ppp hits, opening a sound-shadow revelation in the room, has a vision of Roger Mexico’s head on a spit at the end of the table. He now believes they have been brought here to feed the Elite — not feed as in give the food, but to be the food. This revelation — whether real or only believed, really does represent what symbolically happens to the Preterite: that ‘feeding’ of the Elite — is the inciting incident for revolution. So far then, three of the set ups have been used. First, the luxury, wealth, and power of the usual attendees (ICI, GE, etc.) originally appears to the Preterite as a natural and acceptable outgrowth of society. Second, Utgarthaloki (the Loki/Thor feast) proves that this scene is merely an illusion for what reality is actually like. And third, the sound-shadows of the kazoo quartet gives Bodine and Mexico the ability to see through these illusions, past what we usually view as natural, and thus see the predatory and parasitic nature of the Elite. This leaves us with one final piece of the set-up, the mere fact that Bodine is here, meaning we are going to get a satirical look at revolution (and, technically, since Slothrop’s scattered mind is here, a hope that this could lead people like Bodine and Mexico to become a new, proletariat, pointsman).
The revolution begins. Brigadier Pudding4, whose spirit is also here, gives them some inspiration with his love for surprise-based foods. They begin spouting off a disgusting menu of alliterative dishes: “pus pudding,” “clot casserole,” “discharge dumplings,” (715) and so on. This causes a number of ICI or GE members to vomit, get up, and run out of the dining hall. Bodine, Mexico, and even through some odd classless solidarity, a member of the dinner party known as Commando Connie, are conducting a satirized version of revolution: using something low-brow but effective to fight back against the ‘high-brow’ Elite. Even members of the string/kazoo band —Gustav, André Omnopon, and a cellist — join in on the fun given they too are a member of the Preterite/proletariat, being hired only to play music for the Elite class’s supposedly informal dinner.
Beaver and Jessica come back into the picture — they’re here too, remember? But why did Beaver bring Mexico to his potential death? Well, remember, Beaver has been characterized as the classic neoliberal citizen. A man who states he is for peace and community, yet who in reality sees the Rocket and thinks there is no other choice than to use it for its intended purpose. He caters to the needs of someone like Jessica who now desires security and who, given she knows no other form of life than the wartime, will believe that he is right in his beliefs. This middle-class style neoliberal is the exact type of person who has been brainwashed to think that they can become one of Them, the Elite. That through enough trials, services, and efforts, they can reach those ranks. So, perhaps he thought bringing Roger Mexico here was a service. But now, escorting the weeping Jessica, he runs out with many of the other dinner attendees — powerless.
With Jessica running away, likely for good, this gives Roger some pause: “Does Roger have a second of pain right here? Yes. Sure. You would too. You might even question the worth of your cause. But there are nosepick noodles to be served up buttery and steaming” (716). Or, to complete the allegory, it is just like Pirate saw in his dream (3.24). In a revolution, we will potentially lose some of the ones we love, through abandonment, death, or mere separation. But the outcome of said revolution will make these losses justifiable if not entirely worth it. It is a fight for our future, is it not?
As the crowd leaves, so do our Preterite. Gustav tells Mexico that he isn’t sure if he is worthy of joining such a revolution since he contributed to the War because he “was a Storm Trooper […] a long time ago” (717). But what one was in the past is not all so relevant. Mexico was an analyst for the war machine, Pirate and many others such as Osbie Feel and Stephen Dodson-Truck were intelligence agents, Katje Borgesius helped out and loved Blicero, Gwenhidwy was a keeper of ‘the Book’ alongside Pointsman, and so on. One’s former place, within reason, does not matter, for those were areas we were forced into believing was right for the world given our situation. What matters is the willingness to abandon those realms to fight for a cause, at the risk of one’s life or freedom.
And through all of this, though it may just seem like another one of Roger Mexico’s childish outbursts like him deciding to piss all over the men in power in some random office, it is more. It is the first step of a revolution that is shadowed in illusion, for if Loki could hide his contests under a mirage, if the sound-shadow could hold the intentions of the Elite in secret, then why could the intentions of the Counterforce also not be hidden. Especially considering Bodine is now here, and through multiple scenes we have witnessed his actions to be comedic renditions of something far more real in the world’s future; something akin to revolution; our collective decision to not be preyed upon by the Elite anymore; to make Them uncomfortable and unable to sit in Their dining halls, supping on fine foods and getting elegantly wasted on vintage wine; to gather up other Preterite, open “the last door to the outside, and escape” (717) from whatever chains have been laid upon us.
Up Next: Part 4, Chapter 9
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and have a happy New Year as well!
Recall that Cuxhaven was where all the winning parties of the War ended up (3.31).
This is the first time we’ve learned Morituri and Eventyr were a part of the Counterforce, though it does make perfect sense why each would join. Morituri, whose family was recently killed in the bombings of Hiroshima (in Morituri’s story to Slothrop in 3.16, he mentioned that his wife and daughter were waiting for him in Hiroshima), has now seen the outcome of Western imperialism, interventionism, and general warmongering. And Eventyr, the medium speaking to the dead on the other side, has heard the accounts of the atrocities and reasons for atrocities from more objective forces.
For those not familiar with musical theory, f, ‘forte,’ means to play loudly, and the more fs added means to play louder — forte (f) to fortissimo (ff) to fortississimo (fff). p, ‘piano,’ means to play softly, and, similarly, the more ps added means to play softer — piano (p) to pianissimo (pp) to pianississimo (ppp).
Who once had a high up place in the White Visitation and represented the ‘old guard’ compared to Pointsman’s ‘new guard.’ And who died via e. coli poisoning from eating Katje’s feces (2.5).