Crying of Lot 49 - Jake

Although the Crying of Lot 49 does not specifically reference the Vietnam War or any other major historical events during the mid 1960’s, it does provide a general perspective on the sheer chaos that plagued society as a result of such events. Pynchon’s writing style is meant to present readers with a confusing and muddled narrative, creating an overall frenzied feeling not unlike the chaos that plagued his contemporary society. Also, many of the counter-cultural movements of the 1960’s are addressed in this book, including an overt amount of sexual indiscretion, reminiscent of the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, as well as the common use of hallucinogens and the fascination with underground forms of communication.

This book is difficult to read due to a continual barrage of new characters, information, and storylines along with a particularly complex writing style and occasional, unrestrained ventures into the minds of characters who clearly suffer from severe psychological disabilities. I found it especially difficult to read because I could not personally identify with any of the characters. I struggled to grasp how working as a used car dealer could possibly have had such a profoundly negative effect on Mucho’s life. More importantly, I don’t think I ever understood what exactly was motivating Oedipa. Other than her obviously curious nature, I cannot see how she could be willing to devote so much of her time and energy into researching an underground system of communication, when, for all intents and purposes, it should have little to no effect on her life. Especially considering the daunting task that she was already faced with in being the executor of Pierce’s will, I do not understand why she would devote herself so fully to this quest. The stamps were clearly only a minor part of his estate, and she even hired someone to basically take care of that particular portion, so I am completely baffled as to her reasons for following that ludicrous path while she had a much more pressing duty.

Now, even if I just accept that for some reason Oedipa must seek out the truth to the Tristero, I still do not understand some of her actions in doing this. At the beginning, she seemed fairly logical and safety-conscious. For example, she immediately grabbed the antenna from her TV to use as a weapon of self-defense when she thought that she might be in danger from Miles. However, in later parts of the book she performed some ridiculously dangerous tasks, such as wandering all of San Francisco by herself at night, with seemingly little regard for her personal safety. Also, by the end of the book, she apparently stopped using any sort of problem-solving logic. She would just follow whatever information she had, wherever it took her, and yet was not willing to ask any important questions. To me, it seems like by the end of the book, she was literally wandering about aimlessly, fully absorbed in her inner-conflict about whether this was real or a joke, and yet she possessed very little willingness to actually seek out real evidence to help her decide. She clearly suffered from some sort of mental trauma, but I still think that if I ever became that involved in some task, I would either try my hardest to see it through to completion or entirely abandon it. Yet, she seems to remain in a some sort of middle ground, unable to truly push herself further along in her investigation and do what it takes to solve the mystery yet also unable to abandon the search and resume a somewhat normal lifestyle.