A Cold War Satire

As I read through the book I found a paragraph that caught me and refused to let go. This occurred when Oedipa and Metzger are at The Scope talking to Mike Fallopian talking about the Peter Pinguid Society. He was telling the story of how the society began in the times of the Civil War. Its name was inspired on the first casualty of the Russia vs. U.S conflict. This is the quotation: "But that was the very first military confrontation between Russia and America. Attack, retaliation, both projectiles deep-sixed forever and the pacific rolls on. But the ripples from those two splashes spread, and grew and today engulf us all." (36) This is probably another of the author's satirical comments to the society that was around him. This book was written and published during the Cold War and this is (most likely) a reference to it. I believe that he tries to make fun of government propaganda in which Russia and the U.S are enemies and that the U.S are the good guys. It is absurd how and practically impossible than a period from the 1940's to 1900's could possibly be affected by a confrontation that occurred during the civil war that had no major impact and isn't widely known. It is especially comical how neither of the ships received any damage but it is still a mayor historical event to those of the Peter Pinguid Society.

Also, the name of the society is a joke. Peter Pinguid according to Mike Fallopian didn't go through any serious punishment but was able to live well the rest of his life simply getting rich. He wasn't truly a martyr (although according to the society he had to go over the grave punishment of sacrificing his code of honor) but a man that was able to live a decent life as a land speculator. The way Thomas Pynchon takes an insignificant person and blows him out of proportion in order to make a society based on what he thought can be interpreted as an element of his satire. These comments on the society that surrounded Pynchon at the time the book was written are consistent through the book and I expect to see more as I read on.