The Crying of Lot 49/Vietnam

Oedipa Maas starts out just as the co-executor of her dead ex-boyfriend’s will, unaware of the findings she would come across. She meets many strange characters along the way, encouraging her to find the answer to the conflict between the two competing postal companies—Thurn and Taxis, and the Trystero. As Oedipa searches for answers to her many questions, she becomes more and more engrossed in revealing the intricacies of the rivalry. Similarly, America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, as minimal as it initially was, became more and more convoluted as the years went on and the conflict escalated. Oedipa desperately tries to find solutions to the thoughts inside her mind, attempting to connect the things she has witnessed since meeting Metzger and find closure that is not found by the end of the novel. Likewise, America was hoping for a conclusion to the Vietnam War in its favor, yet things did not turn out as planned. South Vietnam fell to the hands of the Communist North, leaving Americans feeling dejected and discouraged, much as how Oedipa felt while searching for answers.

This next parallel might be a far stretch since I had been trying so hard to find similarities between the novel and the Vietnam War, but I felt connections could be made between the relationship of Thurn and Taxis and the Trystero, and America and North Vietnam, respectively. In the last chapter of The Crying of Lot 49, the conflict between the postal groups is revealed in much greater detail. Thurn and Taxis was not able to prevent the infiltrations of Trystero in the postal system, especially since Trystero proved to be much more clever and powerful than expected, “advocating a takeover by force, while their enemy was vulnerable” (135). Trystero successfully managed, though underground, to live on with much support. North Vietnam posed a greater challenge than America and South Vietnam were prepared for, resulting in the success of the Communist regime.

The Crying of Lot 49 is definitely one of the most confusing books I have ever read. It was difficult to follow Oedipa and keep all the details of the conversations straight as she discovers more clues throughout the novel. Many times, I had to flip back a few pages to clarify what was going on. I was hoping for a good conclusive ending, but was left instead trying unsuccessfully to piece everything that happened together in my head.