The Crying of Lot 49, Book Review Example

The goal is to show that the main character, Oedipa has to address the chaos that surrounds her.In the application of a number of methods, Pynchon causes the reader to conceptualize the world of chaos and mayhem that is depicted in the story. There is a comparison of the role of Oedipa Mass and Maxwell Demon that will be performed in this book review.

Oedipa Mass has to choose whether to be one of the clues to solving the puzzle that the author has proposed or whether to be part of the confusion. Oedipa Mass plays a role very similar to that of Maxwell Demon. “As Demon sat and sorted his molecules into hot and cold, the system was said to lose entropy. But somehow the loss was offset by the information that demon gained about what molecules were (Pynchon 105).  Thomas Pynchonuses the storyline as a puzzle. There are two tiers to the puzzle. The first tier is the role of the story characters. The second tier is the perspective of the author. In the book, there is a continuing theme of chaos and mayhem.

Oedipa Mass had the objective of ascertaining the meaning of an existence that is led by questioning the perception of the other characters by subduing the communications and the consumption of drugs. Oedipa Mass is also the executor of the testament. As Oedipa is ensnared in this chaos and mayhem, her task is to perform what the character of Maxwell Demon performs, to distinguish the useful information from the useless information. Pynchon engages the reader in finding the meaning of metaphors and symbols in order to derive their meaning.

The combination of the particular history of Thorn and Taxis in the story has the quality of overwhelming the reader with information that does not correlate with the story. “ From the same plastic folder, he now tweezed what looked like an old Ferman stamp with the figures 1/ 4 at the center, the word Freimarke at the top and along the right hand margin, the legend Thurn und Taxis “ (Pynchon 96). The bits of information cause the reader to combine the audience‘sperception of the actual world with the environment created by Pynchon.

The effect of this narrative is to engage the audience into the character’s quest of the significance of life. The audience finds, in a similar quality as Oedipa, that the conclusion ends at the beginning. In addition, the alternating of the real world with fiction, that includes the detailing of The “Peter Penguid society” (Pynchon 49) serves to create confusion in the mind of the reader to such a degree that the reader is compelled to depend on Oedipa to tell the difference between illusion and reality. Pynchon applies a number of metaphors that show the correlation between the reader and the author’s perspective in the Crying of Lot 49.

The most apparent metaphor is the designation of the protagonist, whose name is Oedipa mass. Oedipa causes the reader to reflect on the Greek sage Oedipus, who had the purpose of solving riddles. Oedipus’ search to understand the Delphic prophecies became his demise (Adams 1). Oedipal Mass causes the reader to reflect on the principles that were proposed by the physicist Sir Isaac Newton, in that Oedipa is influenced by the gravity of the environment (Fowler 1).The relationship between the laws of physics and Oedipus purpose are shown in that when Oedipa is designated as the executor of the testament, her role remains in movement unless an opposing force is exerted upon her.

The reader is connected with Oedipa by paranoia. At the height of the story, Oedipa perceives the muted post in everything.“In the lapel, of which she spied, wrought exquisitely in some pale, glimmering alloy, not another cerise badge, but a pin in the shape of the Trystero post horn, Mute and everything “(Pynchon 111). This causes the reader to guess if she is having delusions or if there is a conspiracy inwhich the Trystero is involved. In one sense, it can be said that Pierce Invarity, the deceased fiancée of Oedipa, serves as a unifying character to blend the searches of the reader and Oedipa. Pierce invarity bequeaths an estate that gives a hint with regards to his character. Oedipa ‘s  job is to  “ bestow life on what had persisted to bring the estate into pulsing steliferous meaning, all in a soaring dome around here” ( Pynchon 58).

Conclusion

The primary element that connects the audience with Oedipa is the condition of paranoia. The authorengages the reader into the formation of a number of conclusions, which are subsequentlyproven as being false. The reader’s lack of capacity in determining the meaning of the symbols id correlated to Oedipa’s lack of ability of being able to tell the difference between chaos and truth. In the two perspectives, an increase in the communication entropy of the reader’s environment is required. The Crying of Lot 49 is effective in engaging the audience with the mystery that is unfolded in the story. The conclusion is that the reader discovers introspection as the story demonstrates what Oedipa is learning.

Works Cited

Adams. John P. “The Story of Oedipus.” California State University at Northridge, 1996. Web. 17 December 2014. http://www.csun.edu/`hcfl004/oedstory.html.

Fowler, Michael. “Isaac Newton.” Department of Physics, University of Virginia. 2014. Web. 17 December 2014. http://galileoandeinstein.physicsvirginia.edu/lectures/newton.html

Pynchon, Thomas. The crying of lot 49.  New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2006. Print