Trinity

Figurative Expression as an Alternative Discourse February 13, 2009

The two figures that stood out in Thomas Pynchon’s short story Entropy were the broken windows, which function as the physical representation within the text of the philosophical connection between the two distinct threads. Both of the characters that motivated the discussion of entropy within the two contrasting contexts of the party and the hothouse were involved in some way with the breaking of a window. Saul’s discussion with Meatball of entropy as the random noise within a signal is precipitated by an argument with his wife concerning communication and information theory, in the course of which a science textbook was thrown through a window. Callisto’s obsession with thermodynamic entropy and the impending heat-death of the universe, which has prompted he and Aubade to sequester themselves within a hermetically sealed hothouse, eventually leads her to break the window and embrace the intrinsic flux of the surrounding world. In each instance, the physical act of the broken window is the fulfillment of each interpretation of entropy. The book thrown through the window in mid-argument represents a breakdown in communication precipitated by a misunderstanding that is exemplary of the information theory form of entropy (the book being a thermodynamics text is a small nod to the superficiality of the connection between the two types of entropy). Aubade’s decision to break the window and allow the implacable forces of thermodynamics to enter the previously closed environment is a realization of the inevitability of the changes implicit in a thermodynamic representation of the world and the trends within it.  Although isolation can give the illusion of stability, at every level change is unavoidable:  flux is an integral component of existence.  In both cases, the broken window represents the acceptance of entropy as a fundamental condition of reality:  on the one hand, a limitation of communication that cannot be overcome; on the other, a state of change that cannot be circumvented.

This acceptance of certain fundamental conditions as constraints for existence and action is reminiscent of the progression of the Cold War in Europe, as described by Robert McMahon.  In The Cold War, he explores the reasons behind the fact that the Cold War’s only militarized conflicts took place in the Third World.  According to McMahon, the most fundamental reason was the mutual acceptance by both the East and West that any conflict in the central European theater would inevitably lead to a thermonuclear exchange, and that this outcome would not favor any involved.  This consensus of mutually-assured destruction was the key balancing force for the duration of the four-decade conflict between the two superpowers.  While many believe this to mean that the mere specter of nuclear retaliation would have prevented war from erupting and that the political machinations and military-industrial arms race on both sides following World War II was in hindsight unnecessary, McMahon demonstrates that the Soviet maneuvers in both the political and military arenas were intended to prevent the West from achieving enough of a strategic edge to launch the offensive that the inherently paranoid Soviets believed the capitalists must intend; the matching American responses were necessary to prevent the Soviet buildup from tipping the balance far enough for the communists to achieve their stated goal of forcibly subduing the West.  As McMahon shows, the balance of power that prevented the Cold War from turning into a global thermonuclear war was a far more fragile and complex thing than is widely understood.

Figurative expression as an alternative discourse can be valuable in separating from and counteracting the more traditional forms of representing and communicating thoughts and ideas.  Pynchon’s short story does this very well in the course of exploring the relationship between the information theory and thermodynamic concepts of entropy:  rather than an academic paper detailing the similarities and differences in the theories and their applications, Pynchon crafts a narrative representation of the same concepts, demonstrating their application through the actions of the characters and linking the two different threads with the vehicle of the broken window.  While this is a reasonable (and sometimes superior) method for conveying certain ideas, it must be noted that any attempt to replace direct communication with figurative expression is subject to the inherent risk of miscommunication within a form of discourse that relies on interpretation and the linkage of two different objects or concepts in the vehicle and the tenor.