The word appears 12 times.
I have yet to read this, and so cannot provide any context. The plot in this book is odd, in keeping with Pynchon's style.
The opening pages of the novel follow Pirate Prentice, an employee of the Special Operations Executive, first in his dreams, and later around his house in wartime London. Pirate's associate Teddy Bloat photographs a map depicting the sexual encounters of U.S. Army Lt. Tyrone Slothrop, an employee of a fictional technical intelligence unit called ACHTUNG. Each of Slothrop's sexual encounters in London appears to precede a V-2 rocket strike in the same place by several days.
Oh, it's the Red River all right, if you don't believe it just ask that "Red," where he may be (tell you what Red means, FDR's little asshole buddies, they want to take it all waway, women all have hair on their legs, give it all to them or they'll blow it up roung black iron in the middle of the night bleeding over Polacks in gray caps okies nigger yeah niggers especially...)
Cripple on the right foot, cripple on the left foot,
Crippled up both feet 'n' that makes three!
Well on litte fairy, even one bull dyke,
One little nigger, one little kike,
One Red Indian with one buffalo,
And a buffalo hunger from New Mexico...
... admired the frock they have brought her from Harvey Nicholls, a sheer crepe that flows in from padded shoulders down to a deep point between her breasts, a rich cocoa shade known as "nigger" in this country, yards and yards of delicious silk....
Needs to coordinate with some Project Hermes people from General Electric. Sure makes him nervous, those niggers next door. "Hey, ought to be a good story for you people. Warn the folks back home."
"Are they GIs?"
"Shit no. Kraut. South-West African. Something."
"Not enough we have to worry about Russkeys, frogs, limeys -- hey, beg pardon, buddy. Now we got not just niggers you see, but kraut niggers. Well, Jesus, V-E Day just about everyplace you had a rocket, you had you a nigger. Never any all-boogie batteries, understand. Even the krauts couldn't be that daffy! One battery, that's 81 men, plus all your support, your launch control, power, propellants, your surveying -- champ, that's sure be one heap o' niggers all in one place.
"Now," beams mischievous Glimpf, setting the hoist in motion.
A fresh thought occurs to Slothrop. He puts his head out and hollers "Major Marvy sucks NIGGERS!"
"I think we should hurry," sez Glimpf.
"Aw, I just thought of a good one about his mother."
The madame -- hey! ha, ha! looks like some kind of dyke with a stogie in her face! raises and eyebrow at Marvy when he tells her he wants a nigger, but thinks she can get hold of one.
Well, that's all reet. He isn't fucking her eyes, is he? He'd rather not have to look at her face anyhow, all he wants is brown skin, the shut mouth, and that sweet and nigger submissiveness. She'll do anything he orders...