"Nor might any left behind on the ground see her again,-- would they?-- passing above in the Sky, the sleeves of her garment now catching light like wings...her mind no more than that of a Kite, the Wind blowing through..."
— Pynchon, Thomas (b. 1937)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
New York
Publisher
Henry Holt Company
Date
1997
Metaphor
"Nor might any left behind on the ground see her again,-- would they?-- passing above in the Sky, the sleeves of her garment now catching light like wings...her mind no more than that of a Kite, the Wind blowing through..."
Metaphor in Context
In that harsh sexual smell, in the ice-edg'd morning, she is led past them, northern winds beneath her deerskin Shift, itching to risk raising her eyes, just once, to see who'll be watching. ("Do you think she understands?" The Visitor asks in rapid French. The other shrugs. "She will understand what she needs to. If she seeks more..." The two exchange a look whose pitiless Weight she feels clearly enough.) Men strain at cables that pitch steeply into the sky, the enormous Rooftops anxiously a-scurry, as before some Invisible Approach. Chinese seem to flit ev'ry-where. Voices, usually kept low, are now and then rais'd. He has her arm. The other priest is behind them. She could not break free,--could she?-- reaching with her arms, run to the roof's and into the Air, up-borne by Friendly Presences, as by Brilliance of Will, away across the Roof-slates and Fortifications, wheeling, beyond the range of all Weapons, beyond the need for any Obedience,...the Sun coming through, the River shining below, the great Warriors' River, keeping her course ever south-westward. Nor might any left behind on the ground see her again,-- would they?-- passing above in the Sky, the sleeves of her garment now catching light like wings...her mind no more than that of a Kite, the Wind blowing through...
(p. 517)
(p. 517)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Pynchon, Thomas. Mason & Dixon. New York: Henry Holt Company, 1997.
Date of Entry
11/08/2010
