Economic (capitalism)

Country for miles around gone to necropolis diminishing greens were converted into paper
toilet paper, banknotes, newsprinta medium for shit, money, and the Word - the three American
truths, powering the American mobility. By metaphorically comparing the country to a
necropolis where death reigns, Pynchon implies that the essence of capitalism is exploitation
and destruction (Sroczynski, 2011). Similarly, while delivering a speech, Murrow attacks
capitalist society: We are wealthy, fat, comfortable, and complacent. The succession of
criticizing adjectives (bolded) attacks the egos of both audiences (his and films), spurring selfcritique of their ways of thinking. Beckett exposes weaknesses and imbalances of capitalism.
Pozzos inability to function independently I'd very much like to sit down, but I don't quite know
how to go about it showcases the aristocracys dependence on the lower class and their inability
to support themselves.

Philosophical (nihilism, absurdism, existentialism, personal truths and

anxiety)
Before the Rocket we went on believing, because we wanted to. But the Rocket can penetrate,
from the sky, at any given point. Nowhere is safe. We cant believe Them if we love the truth. The
statement We cant believe Them. introduces a stance against authority with the high modality
of cant. (Them in the novel is akin to 1984s Inner Party). GNAGL Similarly deals with
personal truths/values in response to political initiatives. Wershba asks his wife What if we're
wrong? ... We're not going to look back (pause) and say we protected the wrong side? The
repetition of questions, and his silent pauses, indicate his self-questioning and self-doubt
regarding his stance against McCarthyism. Doubtful moments like these reflect the uncertainty
surrounding truth and ethics.
Two characters lovemaking is disrupted: But a rocket has suddenly struck Death has come in
the pantry door: stands watching them, iron and patient, with a look that says try to tickle me.
Pynchon holds an irreverent attitude toward the bomb (Hamill, 1999). The initial serious
personification of Death is replaced by try to tickle me. Through italicization, Pynchon lends
typographical weight to the playful imperative to undermine any serious consideration of
death/apocalypse. GR is all about the Bomb The rocket is a displacement of the bomb
(Dellamora, 1995). Thus Pynchon describes how the bomb gave birth to nihilism. There is an
ambiguity present: death is taunting but also trivial. To the individual psyche this means constant
oscillations between anxiety and carelessness more instability. In Waiting for Godot the stage
directions for Estragon replicate the repetitive and ultimately useless motions of life: He pulls at
it with both hands, panting. He gives up, exhuausted, rests, tries again. As before. Estragon:
[Giving up again.] Nothing to be done. Here the Absurdist fashion of trying in an indifferent
world, but failing, leads to the nihilistic conclusion of the futility of perseverance.

Religious: A careless God is worse than no God.

Slothrop casually feels that the hand of Providence (God) creeps among the stars, giving the
finger. Present verb creeps attaches an eeriness to God, erasing his comforting qualities his
presence adds to the sense of Cold War apprehension/anxiety. Laurisa, a minor character,
identifies her isolation and is left nothing but Gods indifferent sunlight. Being left nothing has

connotations of hopelessness and emptiness feelings pervasive in the Cold War period. Beckett
also subverts the Christian connotations of a caring God: a personal God from the heights of
divine apathia divine athambia divine aphasia. The description identifies God as careless,
imperturbable, and speechless.
Combining the analysis of Gravitys Rainbow and GNAGL results in a paramount fusion of
scientific and religious comment.
Pynchon often refers to the rocket as the Holy Text. Thus, the Rocket comes to occupy the
place of God (Comyn, 2014). In GNAGL, media has replaced religion. Murrow speaks about
television: This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. Repetition
of can emphatically likens this instruments potential to that of a God.
Murrow continues, extending his commentary to Science: but it can do so only to the extent that
humans are determined to use it to those ends. Science can teach, illuminate, inspire but not
when used for destructive purposes. Television produces its own bomb ignorance and
misinformation impregnate disorientation within society. As Murrow leaves, the screen fades to
black. The audience is silent, indicative of their discomfort. The film ends in an atmosphere of
Cold War uneasiness: a tense cognitive dissonance, an intimidating awareness of the potential
which cannot be achieved if we remain in our current state.

Scientific continued: the new religious paradigm

Gottfried is tied to a rocket and both embark on their trajectory: The Rocket engine promises
escape. The victim, in bondage to falling, rises on a promise, a prophecy, of Escape. . . The
promise symbolizes the deceptive promise of science/technology. Modern societies have risen
on a promise of escape, a belief that science and technology would provide sufficient thrust to
break the bonds imposed by the limitations of a fragile planet. (Sederberg, 1979) However with
every parabola, comes an equally forceful descent: rather than freeing the world, science and
technology has betrayed it to a final destruction (Sederberg). Science is literally the downfall of
humanity. Luckys unmediated speech is used against the mediated language representing
conventional scientific discourses (Velissariou). For example he refers to the Acacacacademy of
Anthropopopometry (the science of the proportions of the human body). His mocking style
reflects a hostility towards these systems, implying a meaninglessness of them. Luckys speech
can be considered existentialist as it attaches a responsibility to humans; we have distanced
ourselves from a meaningful life by engaging in prestigious activities such as science, sport,
literature.