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"THE FAITHLESS, MONEY-DRIVEN WORLD": COMMUNICATION AND EXCHANGE IN THOMAS PYNCHON’S INHERENT VICE

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Date Issued:
2014
Summary:
Set at the end of the 1960s in Southern California, Thomas Pynchon's novel Inherent Vice (2009) is a nostalgic and parodic take on the hard-boiled crime genre. With a nebulously defined search for an erstwhile lover and intimations of foul play from global corporations, its conventional plot construction has led most critics to view the frequency with which its private eye protagonist, Doc Sportello, consumes and distributes cannabis while detecting as a hyperbolic motif designed to accentuate the ostentation of the book’s stylistic parody. This thesis argues that Inherent Vice uses cannabis as a symbolic embodiment of a way of thinking about exchange that effectively circumvents the problems Pynchon perceives to be posed by capitalism. Inherent Vice represents a stylistic departure for Pynchon in that, by advocating the repeated institution of small-scale economies of gift exchange, it offers a specific proscriptive ethical guideline for readers wishing to resist capitalism.
Title: "THE FAITHLESS, MONEY-DRIVEN WORLD": COMMUNICATION AND EXCHANGE IN THOMAS PYNCHON’S INHERENT VICE.
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Name(s): Olsen, Philip Edmond
Hess, John J.
Luria, Rachel
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Thesis
Date Created: Spring 2014
Date Issued: 2014
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Florida
Physical Form: pdf
Extent: 50 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Set at the end of the 1960s in Southern California, Thomas Pynchon's novel Inherent Vice (2009) is a nostalgic and parodic take on the hard-boiled crime genre. With a nebulously defined search for an erstwhile lover and intimations of foul play from global corporations, its conventional plot construction has led most critics to view the frequency with which its private eye protagonist, Doc Sportello, consumes and distributes cannabis while detecting as a hyperbolic motif designed to accentuate the ostentation of the book’s stylistic parody. This thesis argues that Inherent Vice uses cannabis as a symbolic embodiment of a way of thinking about exchange that effectively circumvents the problems Pynchon perceives to be posed by capitalism. Inherent Vice represents a stylistic departure for Pynchon in that, by advocating the repeated institution of small-scale economies of gift exchange, it offers a specific proscriptive ethical guideline for readers wishing to resist capitalism.
Identifier: FA00003621 (IID)
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, 2014.
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00003621
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Host Institution: FAU

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