Jessica Swanlake and Darts (Gravity's Rainbow)

[db7894]

Hello,
I have started reading Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and there was a portion of the plot that confused me. On p. 31 (I'm using the Penguin Deluxe Edition), the character Jessica Swanlake throws a dart. On the next page, Pynchon describes it in her view as "the dart incident, which she'd rather avoid."
I'm a little confused as to why she considers this an incident and why she'd want to avoid talking about it. I'd appreciate any theories/ideas anyone has about this!

[chrisvia]

Hello,
I have started reading Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and there was a portion of the plot that confused me. On p. 31 (I'm using the Penguin Deluxe Edition), the character Jessica Swanlake throws a dart. On the next page, Pynchon describes it in her view as "the dart incident, which she'd rather avoid."
I'm a little confused as to why she considers this an incident and why she'd want to avoid talking about it. I'd appreciate any theories/ideas anyone has about this!

Here's my tip: With Pynchon, you have to read into all of the allusion and wordplay and so on. When you read the name Jessica Swanlake, one of the initial things that should spring to mind is the Tchaikovsky ballet (Gravity's Rainbow is rife with classical music references). If you're unfamiliar with the story, read the basic conflict and plot progressions, then come back to Gravity's Rainbow and the bits of Jessica therein with the new context in mind. Aside from the ballet allusion, however, think about the dart as a perpetuation of the novel's themes taken from the German V-2 rocket program and the devastation caused thereof.