V Study Guide

V. is a fiction novel by Thomas Pynchon. Benny Profane enters a tavern in Norfolk, Virginia called the Sailor's Grave on Christmas Eve, 1955. The barmaid, Beatrice, brings him a drink. He sees another seamen, Ploy, whose teeth were removed by the Navy. Ploy files his dentures into points and likes to bite the barmaids' buttocks. The bar owner, Mrs. Boffo, has fake rubber breasts over the beer taps and at certain times, called "suck hour," she lets the sailors drink from the taps. Another seaman, Pig Bodine, arrives and tells him about Pappy Hod, who split up with his young wife, Paola, from Malta. Paola had used Pappy to get to America. Mrs. Boffo comes out and plays a Christmas song, but Pig stops it for suck hour. Profane watches from the side, Paola clinging to him to stay out of the wa... (read more)