Void

Thomas Pynchon's article "A Journey into the Mind of Watts" was incredibly striking for me. The racial conflict between whites and blacks is a long lasting one, deeply rooted in the history of America. The ignorance of the white population in regards to the high levels of poverty amongst the black population is depressing and the metaphor of Watts as a "pocket of bitter reality" in the white fantasy made a strong impression. The inhabitants of Watts are stuck in this seemingly never-ending cycle of defending themselves against racial attacks from the upper-class and living destitute lives. They are trapped in their poor state with no exit. Still, despite the fact that the people of Watts are unable to break out of their own impoverished lives, they are willing to put up with this darker side of reality, putting up a fight against the idealist perceptions that are forced on them by surrounding, upper-class people. Similarly, as Oedipa Maas views the painting "Bordando el Manto Terrestre" she realizes the mundane-ness of her own personal life. She stands there, crying to herself, observing the beautiful girls in the painting, forever weaving, forever trapped in the tower. Oedipa, although wishes for escape, cannot actually think of what exactly she wants to escape from. Her empty life causes her grief since her life seems to have no purpose and no exit. The young girls in the painting continually weave in hopes of filling the emptiness in their lives, but that void is never filled. Yet they keep weaving and keep hoping. Oedipa, as her shades fill with her tears, wonders if her shades could store her tears, that the tears would never dry. This is relative to the fact that she wishes there was something in her currently dull life that would never disappear.