In Chapter 5 of The Crying of Lot 49 we see how Oedipa begins to find clues of what is going on. This chapter reminded me of many movies and how the protagonist follows somebody that he believes will lead him to the solution. In this case Oedipa follows the man how got the letters, “She tailed him all the way back down the littered, shifty, loud length of the Market and over on First Street to the trans bay bus terminal, where he bought a ticket for Oakland. So did Oedipa”. (Pg106) She is now very much into the mystery she must solve. Her own questions must be answered for her to be finally in peace. Pynchon is making her restless, because she is getting nowhere with her investigation of the mystery she must solve. After all she has been through Oedipa is very tired of it, “Yet she wanted it all to be a fantasy”. (Pg 107) At the end of the day, she just wants it all out of her head.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Clues Come Together
Oedipa has now begun to go further into a problem which started as a slight disturbance. She has now gone to Yoyodyne, and takes a tour of the place. She gets lost and finds herself with Stanley Koteks. He is drawing a symbol like the one Oedipa saw in the bathroom in The Scope. Now she begins to make connections with the things that have been going on lately.
Sometimes this happens to me, I make connections of things I see to things a saw previously to make conclusions. If I, on an afternoon, I ask a friend what they are going to do that afternoon and they don’t respond, and then that same afternoon I see my friend with my ex-girlfriend I will know that he didn’t want to tell me what he was doing that afternoon. This would be because he was going out with my ex and didn’t want to make the moment awkward. This is the moment Oedipa is experimenting; it’s a small type of agnorisis.
Now we have to ask ourselves where will this lead Oedipa?
Sometimes this happens to me, I make connections of things I see to things a saw previously to make conclusions. If I, on an afternoon, I ask a friend what they are going to do that afternoon and they don’t respond, and then that same afternoon I see my friend with my ex-girlfriend I will know that he didn’t want to tell me what he was doing that afternoon. This would be because he was going out with my ex and didn’t want to make the moment awkward. This is the moment Oedipa is experimenting; it’s a small type of agnorisis.
Now we have to ask ourselves where will this lead Oedipa?
Symbols
In Chapter 3 of The Crying of Lot 49 we see an episode when Oedipa finds an interesting thing in the bathroom. She finds a symbol and some message, “Interested in sophisticated fun? You, hubby, girl friends. The more the merrier. Get in touch with Kirby, through Waste only, Box 7391, L. A.” (Pg 38)
In many novels, especially mystery novels, we constantly see the main characters find clues of what they want in symbols. If we take The Da Vinci Code for example we see hoe the protagonist is always finding new symbols that mean something important for him to achieve his quest. Each time he finds one something big is scrambled in the message transmitted by it. Here in this part of the book, Oedipa has just come across this symbol, and message, that don’t mean anything to her. She isn’t even looking for something. So this symbol must be a start to her problems, or start for her solutions.
In many novels, especially mystery novels, we constantly see the main characters find clues of what they want in symbols. If we take The Da Vinci Code for example we see hoe the protagonist is always finding new symbols that mean something important for him to achieve his quest. Each time he finds one something big is scrambled in the message transmitted by it. Here in this part of the book, Oedipa has just come across this symbol, and message, that don’t mean anything to her. She isn’t even looking for something. So this symbol must be a start to her problems, or start for her solutions.
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