// War Literature

One of the major points/themes of this novel that stand out to me tremendously is the idea of motivation and purpose. In many instances during Gravity’s Rainbow we find characters that have a distorted perception of motive. Many of them fail to grasp the greater picture and do not fully understand their involvement in the war. The passage at the beginning of episode 9 in which Jessica Swanlake is questioning the purpose of the war, her personal role, and the idea of having “peace” show how lost an individual can be at times. This loss of purpose—especially when related to war—bring about questions that I think Pynchon is attempting to convey.

If individuals who are actively involved in the happenings of war fail to understand the purpose of their own action then one can only question the purpose of war itself. The conversation that follows Jessica’s thoughts between Roger Mexico and Edward Pointsman further validates this questioning. These two men stand firm to their opposing sides of theory and practicality—unwilling to bend to the other. They are so enthralled in their studies and findings that the actuality of the situation at hand (war) does not stay present in their minds. Pynchon seems to be asking the reader, is this what war does to us? Individuals become so engaged in their labor and lose all sense of actual purpose, resulting in faulted and in some cases inexistent real motivation.