The Crying of Lot 49

Oedipa decides to go visit the Yoyodyne factory, a company Pierce holds stock in. While on her tour, she gets lost and winds up meeting a man named Koteks who is doodling the same symbol she saw on the bathroom walls. Kotek is possibly crazy or extremely brilliant, as he is well educated in science, but rambles on in an insane way. After Oedipa pretends to know the secret Trystero symbols and people, Kotek begins to give her information, only to realize that she was lying. He quickly takes back his words, and Oedipa leaves to find Fallopian. After not getting any useful information, Oedipa leaves to find Driblette, the actor who knew about Trystero. Instead she meets Mr. Thoth who has a rind with the symbol she saw in the bathroom on a ring, and once again goes to meet Fallopian who says it is a historical marker. Oedipa then gets a call from one of Pierce's old friends, Genghis Cohen, who notices the same symbols on all of Pierce's stamps. The markings were made purposely, but neither of them knows why they are there.

In this chapter, I started to like Oedipa a little bit more. Pynchon's writing started to become more clear, so her thoughts were not as clouded as they were before, making it easier to relate to her. I thought that this chapter was the easiest to get through, or at least the most involved with the plot. The only thing I wish is that Metzger was in it more. He seems to have disappeared ever since the book revealed how he is going to litigate Pierce's home to make a name for himself. I just wish the characters would stay more consistent through the whole book. Mucho is barely in here, and he is Oedipa's husband. It just makes things that much harder to know what is important and what is not.

Pynchon's use of music and pop culture is also used again. The Paranoids are one example of music's importance, as their actions and lyrics tend to coincide with the events of the book. Pynchon did not include them in this chapter at all, so that could symbolize how Oedipa's paranoia is slowly starting to subside as she gets closer to the truth. But while Oedipa is in Yoyodyne, she hears a hymn being sung through the halls. It is about loyalty and warmth, which is ironic, because I would hardly describe the Yoyodyne building or corporation as being warm. The other cultural reference is to the amount of plays and books Oedipa reads and sees. They just happen to coincide with her life too perfectly, as if symbolizing and foreshadowing her future.

The one passage that I made me think and connect with my own reality was, "Oedipa wondered whether, at the end of this (if it were supposed to end), she too might not be left with only compiled memories of clues, announcements, intimations, but never the central truth itself, which must somehow each time be too bright for her memory to hold; which must always blaze out, destroying its own message irreversibly, leaving an overexposed blank when the ordinary world came back." I really had to think about that sentence when I read it because I can relate that so easily to life. There are the mysteries you want to be solved, but sometimes don't know if you can hande the truth. Then there is the fear of being left with things unanswered and going on being unfulfilled. It's sad to think of the regret that Oedipa could have over Pierce and not solving the mystery that was him and them together. I wonder if it would have been better if she had not been left his executor at all. She would not have known he cared about her, but she would not have to find out some ugly truth that could ruin her memory of him.

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