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The Crying Of Lot 49

 

            
             By Thomas Pynchon.
             The Crying of Lot 49 written by Thomas Pynchon was written in the beginning of the 20th century, it holds true to its time period by focusing on aspects of the human mind and experiences. There are two levels of apprehension to The Crying of Lot 49: that of the characters in the book, whose perception is limited to the text, and that of the reader, who has the ability to look at the world from an external point of view. A recurring theme in the novel is the phenomenon of chaos, also called entropy. Both the reader and Oedipa have the same tribulations of facing the chaos that surrounds them. Through various methods, Pynchon imposes a fictional world already full of turmoil on the reader. As readers, we are faced with similar uncertainties and complications of the mystery that the characters are involved in. As the mysteries unfold, an understanding of the characters may lead to an understanding of our own self-image. .
             Oedipa Mass, just like us is forced to either involve herself in the deciphering of clues or not to participate at all in what she suspects to be a conspiracy. Her role is comparable to the role of Maxwell's Demon. "As the Demon sat and sorted his molecules into hot and cold, the system was said to lose entropy. Somehow the loss was offset by the information the Demon gained about what molecules were where."" (p. 105). Oedipa's purpose in the novel, besides executing a will, is to find meaning in a life dominated by assaults on people's perceptions through the use of mind altering drugs and the muting of communications. Entangled in this chaos, Oedipa has to do what Maxwell's Demon does: sort useful facts from useless ones. Pynchon involves his audience in that they also have to interpret countless symbols and metaphors to arrive at the novel's meaning. He focuses on the mind of Oedipa, her thoughts and perceptions.


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