Pynchon s Mythography: An Approach to Gravity s Rainbow
The exhausting plenitude of loosely connected detail in Gravity’s Rainbow makes it a favorite of postmodern critics, who claim it describes a modern, random, unknowable universe. Hume expands the possibilities as she discloses a mythic structure that underlies Pynchon’s work and provides easier access to his world.
�Myth turns chaos into cosmos,” Hume explains, describing how the profuse detail of Pynchon’s book allows for the creation of a �world humankind shapes out of chaos by means of ritual and myth. . . a set of interlocking stories. . . [that] fit into a narrative sequence or mythology that conveys, supports, and challenges cultural values.”
Pynchon’s �mythology is not rigidly consistent,” Hume notes, but �several strands of mythological action. . . serve a stabilizing function in this chaotic book.” Pynchon creates his own �unheroic” hero to show the way for making sense of the fragmented experience of life in the postmodern world.
