From: jhmau (jhmau@sbcglobal.net)
Date: Mon Oct 07 2002 - 01:48:14 BST
----- Original Message -----
From: "Elizaphanian" <Elizaphanian@members.v21.co.uk> 10/5/02 7:23 A M
writes:
> But my question is this: What is Lila for? That is, Lila the character
> and/or symbol, not "Lila: An Inquiry into Morals" the book. Clearly she
> represents both biological and dynamic qualities, and she serves as a good
> vehicle for the story of the book. But I don't think that's a full
> explanation for what is going on. Two themes: one the continuing treatment
> of mental illness, sustained from ZMM into Lila, and the second (related)
of
> her doll/child/idol. What is going on with these? I'd love to hear views
on
> this question. I won't feel I've properly got on top of Lila (the book)
> until I have reached satisfactory answers.
>
> Sam
Sam and All'
Words to herd Cats by. (Thanks Scott!) Do you dig what I am saying?
(ZAMM):
"As far as I know those handlebars are still loose. And I believe not that
he was actually offended at the time. I had the nerve? to propose repair of
his new eighteen-hundred-dollar BMW, the pride of a half-century of German
mechanical finesse, with a piece of old (beer) can!.......What emerged in
vague form at first and then in sharper outline was the explanation that I
had been seeing that shim in a kind of intellectual, rational, cerebral way
in which the scientific properties of the metal were all that counted. John
was going at it immediately and intuitively, grooving on it. I was going at
it in terms of immediate appearance. I was seeing what the shim (meant).
He was seeing what the shim (was). That's how I arrived at that
distinction. And when you see what the shim is, in this case, it's
depressing." p. 58, 59 (parentheses indicate italics in the original.)
Joe's comment: Later Persig became uneasy that the Romantic-Classic
division for Quality was not a full explanation, or it was wrong or
something. He wrote (Lila) and proposed a different division of Quality
into Static and Dynamic.
(LILA)
"Very formidable. First you say things our way and then we'll listen to
you. Phaedrus had heard it before. What it means is that you have hit an
invisible wall of prejudice. Nobody on the inside of that wall is ever
going to listen to you; not because what you say isn't true, but solely
because you have been identified as outside that wall. Later as his
Metaphysics of Quality matured, he developed a name for the wall to give it
a more structured integrated meaning. He called it a 'cultural immune
system.' But all he saw now was that he wasn't going to get anywhere with
his talk about Indians until that wall had been breached. There was no way
he was going to make any contribution to anthropology with his
non-credentials and crazy ideas. The best he could do was mount a careful
attack upon that wall." (LILA) p. 58
Another passage from a "voice that did not seem to be his own." "From a
branch of his own personality."
"He reflected on this for a while and then his mind framed a question:
'What would you say,' he asked the idol, 'if we were in India now? What
would you say to all this?'
"He listened for a long time but there was no response. Then after a while
into his thoughts came a voice that did not seem to be his own.
"'All this is a happy ending.'
"Happy ending? Phaedrus thought about it for a while.
"'I wouldn't call it a happy ending,' he said. 'I'd call it an inconclusive
ending.'
"'No, this is a happy ending for everyone,' the other voice said.
"'Why?'
"'Because everybody gets what he wants,' the voice said.
"'Lila gets her precious Richard Rigel, Rigel gets his precious
self-righteousness, you get your precious Dynamic freedom, and I get to go
swimming again.'
"'Oh, you know what's going to happen?'
"'Yes, of course,' the idol said.
"'Then how can you say it's a happy ending when you know what's going to
happen to Lila?'
"'It's not a problem,' the idol's voice said.
"'Not a problem? He's going to lock her up for life and that's not a
problem?'
"'Not for you.'
"'Then why do I feel so bad about it?' Phaedrus asked.
"'You're just waiting for your medal,' The idol answered. 'You think maybe
they're going to turn around and come back and hand you a citation for
merit.'
"'But he's going to (destroy) her.'
"'No,' the idol said. 'She isn't going to let him get (anything) on her.'
"'I don't believe that.'
"'She owns Rigel now,' the idol continued. 'He's (had) it. From here he's
putty in her hands.'
"'No,' Phaedrus said. 'He's a lawyer. He isn't going to lose his head over
her.'
"'He doesn't have to. His head's already lost,' the idol said. 'she's
going to use all those morals of his against him.'
"'How?'
"'She's going to become a (repentant sinner.) She may even join a church.
She's just going to keep telling him what a wonderful moral person he is and
how he saved her from your degenerate clutches, and what can he do? How can
he deny it? There's no way he can fight that. That just keeps his moral
ego blown tight as a balloon and as soon as it starts to sag he will have to
come back to her for more.'
"'Whew, this was some idol, Phaedrus thought. Sarcastic, cynical. Almost
vicious.. Was that what he himself was really like underneath? Maybe it
was. A theatrical ham idol. A matinée idol. No wonder somebody threw it
into the river.'
"'You're the winner, you know,' the idol said..'...by default.'
"'How so?'
"'You did one moral thing on this whole trip, which saved you.'
"'What was that?'
"'You told Rigel that Lila had quality.'
"'You mean in Kingston?'
"'Yes, and the only reason you did that was because he caught you by
surprise and you couldn't think of your usual intellectual answer, but you
turned him around. He wouldn't have come here if it hadn't been for that.
Before then he had no respect for her and a lot for you. After that he had
no respect for you, but some for her. So you gave something to her and
that's what saved you. If it hadn't been for that one moral act you'd be
headed down the coast tomorrow with a lifetime of Lila ahead of you.
Phaedrus didn't like it. Judgements of this sort from a branch of his own
personality were very confusing--and somewhat ominous. He didn't want to
hear any more of them.
"'Well, idol,' he said, 'you may be right and you may be wrong but we are
coming to the end of the roal here'" pps. 461, 462, 463
(meant), (was), an (idol) you may disregard, because undefined purpose means
that I can jump on my horse and ride off in all directions without a corral!
joe
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