Against the sun as yet low across the Lake, wings cast long shadows, their edges luminous with dew.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Against the sun" comes mighty close to Against the Day. Should I be squealing with joy?! Is this where the title comes from? No, no! I won't allow myself the luxury of accepting it that easily since it's obviously different. The sun is not day even if they're intrinsically bound together.
This scene, even though simply a brief description, reminds me of the moment in Gravity's Rainbow when Slothrop and Geli watch their shadows extend across Germany with the rising sun behind them. Pynchon obviously loves this interplay between light and dark, and the way the edges of darkness are lit up the most, the suns rays arcing past the obstacle to light up the morning dew. It's a radiant image.
I wonder what meaning can be garnered by images Pynchon evokes time and time again, across multiple books. Is there any greater meaning than that he just loves these particular images? Another he uses in this book and Mason & Dixon is the star splattered pattern across a landscape, either by, as in Against the Day, dropped and exploded sandbags across the plains, or by, as in Mason & Dixon, snowballs lobbed against the sides of barns and the sides of cousins.
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