Dear re-re-re-readers: Pirsig ends chapter three by saying "And as Phaedrus' studies got deeper and deeper he saw that it was to this conflicct between European and Indian values, between freedom and order, that his study should be directed." We sort of know it'll be the over-arching theme even before he tells us so explicitly. And in yesterday's post, I tried to show this theme as it was addressed in the smaller details. It seems to me that between the smallest details and the broadest over-arching concept, there are two middle-sized themes. One is very tied up with the issues of freedom and order, the European/Indian dicotomy in America, which vaguely resembles the classic/romantic split. The other is Lila and her sexual encounter with the Captain, which will be the main topic of this post. First, just a little bit about the freedom of Indians and the order of Europeans... I think its safe to say that most Americans who contemplate such issues are operating on the assumption that freedom and equality are inventions of the European Enlightenment. I was struck again at the profundity of Pirsig's re-assement of that assumption. Essentially, he says that European thinkers absorbed those values from the Americian Indians. Its nearly impossible to overstate the power of the idea of the "noble savage" upon the European imagination and as soon as Pirsig said it, I knew it was true, even though I didn't know that I knew it was true, you know? One could almost say that the French and American revolutions were caused by the fact that there were no fences or borders on the North American plains. Almost. As far as we know, the plains Indians were as free as any people ever were. This struggle seems to re-appear in many of the historical struggles that Pirsig will discuss later in the book. I think John Brown actually grew up and came from the plains of Kansas, but I'm not sure about that. WWI was definately about the fall of the old European order and Hitler was certainly no friend of freedom and equality. In short, this European/Indian thing ain't just about Americans, its about Western civiliation as a whole and you know its gonna have a huge impact on our understanding of the meaning behind Pirsig's social level patterns. Nuff of the noble savage, now for nookie. DO A LITTLE DANCE MAKE A LITTLE LOVE GET DOWN TONIGHT GET DOWN TONIGHT I bet Rigel just hates that song. It's tacky, loud, crass and vulgar, just like Lila... Hell, KC and the Sunshine Band is a real group like the Archies, the Monkeys and the Partridge Family. Yuk! Pastey, dorky white guys singing black ghetto tunes. KC is among the JUNK that the Canadians either love or hate, just like Lila... "She had the usual junk cosmetics; blond tinted hair, red nails, nothing original, except that it all came out X-rated" We learn that she's also lacking in social skills too. She's apparently inconsiderate and oblivious to other people and folks at the bar have to shout, "CLOSE THE DOOR!" several times before she responds. She's caused a scene before she even gets through the door! But in spite of all that, "something about her really held his attention. Sex, he guessed. ... You just sort of felt instantly right away without having to think about it what it was she did best." Get down, get down, get down tonight, baby. Did anyone else recognize their own experience in the pick-up scenes? Have you ever had sex with a stranger? Ever get down with a person that otherwise held no interest for you whatsoever. Ever woke up with regret, self loathing and an urge to vomit? That's the way,uh huh, uh huh, I like it. Sure you have. Its a cliche'. Its an ancient dance, much older than disco or juke boxes. "Some X-rated thoughts passed through his mind. Whatever it was that's aroused by these cues isn't put off by any lack of originality." He's laying the groundwork for biological value patterns and hinting at their obliviousness to the concerns of higher levels. Sex has its own power and we could hardly exist without it, so we just can't have a complete metaphysics without an explaination of its place in the order of things. Also, because the book is an inquiry into morals, and since he's trying to tell us that everything is Quality, the choice to make a her the center of it all is rich with challenge, yet realistic and practicle. And ultimately I think that the answer to the main question, "Does Lila have quality?", is simply "Yea, she's sexy. She has alot of biological quality. She oozes it. She made me put my book on hold and almost ruined my trip, just for a night in the sack. It made a bit of a degenerate out of me, but you gotta respect the power of it." (I made that up. It's just dialogue, not a quote.) I don't want to get ahead of the story, but these scenes will help to answer the big questions if we continue. I thought the most curious and interestig thing about his sexual attraction to Lila was the intentional ambiguity. He says "my God, it was HER, the one on the streetcar". But then we learn that she's never been to the midwest, so it couldn't really have been her. We get this impression that the bar lady is a particular and temporal version of a broader and timeless reality, as if sexiness were something in it own right and we only participate in it for a time. He keeps thinking he's seen her before even though he now knows that's not really possible and the she asks him "Where have I seen you before?" "and that's what started the illumination. It was stronger toward the center of her face but it didn't come FROM her face. It was as though her face were on the center of a screen and the light came from behind the screen." He's talking about the Dharmakaya light! He's telling us that she's dynamic or that she makes him dynamic or something like that, eh? He's putting the holy light of the virgin mother the halo of the savior around the presence of a bar slut!? Cool. That little detail just blew me away this time, and here's another one that rocked me... She said, "I saw Richard in Rome and Amsterdam but I didn't see you." Maybe I'd be reading too much into this little line, but I think it speaks volumes. Anyone else see it? If I say any more, it might influence your impression and I'd really like to know if anyone sees it without any outside influence. Or how about that scene where the two lawyers are having sex with the alligator and the snake? What do you suppose that was all about? MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
