Groups of these could be observed in Monumental Park at sunrise, sitting in the dew in uncomfortable positions, their lips moving inaudibly.
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"Monumental Park"
A park in Cleveland. Originally named Public Square as it was meant to be the village green center of the planned city, it became known as Monumental Park after a statue of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was erected in celebration of his ability to destroy other ships and human lives before his was destroyed in the Battle of Lake Erie. It was also the place, in 1879, where the one of the first electric street lights was demonstrated. Pynchon always knows how to make his barely referenced references matter!
Pynchon gives us a portrayal of a certain set of "science enthusiasts" who have venerated the science of light to such a degree that they have now become sun worshipers engaging in morning prayer to the rising sun. He also points out how devotees love to sit in awkward positions. Perhaps this quick glimpse is meant as a warning to taking things too far, a warning ignored seeing as how this detailed inspection of light would eventually lead to the atomic bomb. Okay, maybe there isn't a direct link from sitting in the grass worshiping nature. But the fanaticism displayed here certainly is!
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