There remained in the western sky only an after-glow of deep crimson, against which could be seen Miles's silhouette, as well as those of the heads of the other boys above the curved rim of the gondola.
* * * * * * * * * *
This is like a movie poster. Sometimes Pynchon likes to create images that evoke the idea of other media. Like sometimes Slothrop will be running around post-war Germany in a superhero outfit trying to buy a bunch of drugs so he can get some information that will lead him to the secret of why his boners are caused by rockets and suddenly a magazine cover will spin around in the sky behind him and the reader will think, "What the fuck? Is he hallucinating?" And then the reader will remember how movies like Citizen Kane and, um, other ones sometimes connect scenes with newspapers spinning around to stop and highlight the headline, or there will be a montage of magazines displaying the main character's rise to fame and greatness. And that's all that's happening. Pynchon is just saying, "Well, I'm writing a book. But let's make it seem like a movie for a second."
This is one of those times but less confusing. This one is just all, "Isn't this idyllic? Doesn't it evoke a sense of nostalgia, of youthful adventures, while sprinkling the psyche with enough reminders of endings to nearly make them weep from melancholy?" Or is that just me?
Maybe it's just a fat joke about how Miles's silhouette is practically blocking out the sun?
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