Insanity

The significant passage I chose this week comes from page 140 in the last paragraph and continues onto page 141, "Either way, they'll call it paranoia...Or you are fantasying some such plot, in which case you are a nut, Oedipa, out of your skull."

To start off, I figured that after reading the final chapter of this book, I would be relieved of all my confusion. Unfortunately, I'm just as confused as when I read the first paragraph. I chose this quote for two different reasons. The first, Oedipa and I have a connection! We are both extremely confused at this point and have no idea what's going on. Of course, her sitaution is much more complicated than mine. This brings me to the second reason, is this situation even real? Or just within Oedipa's mind? The one thing that was truly made clear throughout the entire book was the theme of communication. It's evident in Pierce's will to Oedipa and the whole idea of the "postal service." At this point in the novel, things should be coming together and answers should be given. Oedipa recieves information about the Trystero that is helpful, but there still seems to be many gaps. Who is trying to convey all this information to Oedipa? Is Pierce a consipirator in the Trystero, or is it simply just a part of San Narciso that Oedipa happened to stumble upon? Her sanity is crumbling at this point, and the "true communicator" to Oedipa is never revealed. I also feel like sanity played a huge role in the book as well. It could possibly be that Oedipa did make this up in her head and is trying to connect things that don't have any connection at all. We can see insanity in within many characters in the book: Mucho Maas on LSD, Dr. Hilarius with the Israelis, and ultimately Driblette killing himself. In my point of view, I personally think the writer had some sanity issues, some things in the book were so farfetched and I had no idea how they were linked to the book. The ending did not serve me any justice, but hopefully there was some conclusion in Oedipa's mystery. Hopefully the mysterious auctioneer "crying" for Lot 49 helped Oedipa come to some sort of closure and to bring back sanity into her life.

Projecting a World

The passage I chose this week stems from Oedipa’s dilemma with Pierce’s estate, located on page 65, “Shall I project a world? If not project then at least flash some arrow on the dome to skitter among constellations and trace out your Dragon, Whale, Southern Cross. Anything might help.”

This idea of “projecting a world” comes from the painting Oedipa saw while on a trip to Mexico with Pierce. The women in the painting are projecting a world through the tapestry that encompasses everything. This was referenced to in the book on page 11. At that time Oedipa felt like a trapped maiden in the tower, being held by the power of the man dressed in black that controlled the thread. However, at this point in the book it seems as though Oedipa has more control on her life. She isn’t the maiden anymore, but the man dressed in black. She holds a lot of information and she’s wondering if she should project this information to the world. When she says, “Anything might help,” it makes me question whether this is for her sake or for the sake of Pierce’s jumbled estate. All the information she holds up to this point is scattered and the connections don’t seem to be there. By projecting it to the world perhaps Oedipa will kill two birds with one stone. Her sanity won’t be questioned any longer and she will finally be able to make sense of Pierce’s estate. However, before this projection occurs, Oedipa must acquire more information or establish some connections.

Oedipa and Mucho's Weird Relationship

The passage I chose this week has to do with the communication and relationship issues between Oedipa and Mucho. The quote can be found in the second paragraph on page 32 describing Mucho’s letter, “The letter itself had nothing much to say, had come in response to one of her dutiful, more or less rambling, twice-a-week notes to him, in which she was not confessing to her scene with Metzger because Mucho, she felt, somehow, would know.”

Oedipa and Mucho’s relationship is very strange to me. They are a married couple but their communication skills are terrible. It seems like the reason they write these pointless letters is because they feel like they have to do it. They don’t have a personal incentive to write to one another. Obviously the relationship between Oedipa and Mucho isn’t a strong one because the content of their letters is referred to as “rambling,” not actually anything of importance. This is a huge theme running throughout the book, the issue of communication. Oedipa seems to have the most trouble with it. She’s looking for things to communicate with her, but they aren’t coming through. What’s ironic is the fact that Oedipa is expecting things to communicate openly with her, but she herself is a terrible communicator. She doesn’t reveal any of her travels with her husband and also keeps secrets from him, such as the affair with Metzger. I’m not exactly sure where The Crying of Lot 49 is going with the whole communication “issue.” Perhaps Oedipa will work through these issues as she digs further into the execution of Pierce’s will. As for now it looks like her relationship with Mucho is on the decline and will continue down that path.

Oedipa's Strange Character

I’m not going to lie; The Crying of Lot 49 is an extremely strange book. It’s so weird and complex that we even took an entire class period to dissect just the first paragraph. But, it’s very interesting. The quote I chose from this week comes from the first paragraph. It’s when Oedipa questions Pierces death, “Was that how he’d died, she wondered, among dreams, crushed by the only ikon in the house? That only made her laugh, out loud and helpess: You’re so sick, Oedipa, she told herself, or the room, which knew.” (pg 1-2)

First impressions are a very big deal, and Oedipa’s first impression is a strange one. We find out she will execute her ex-boyfriends will and her reactions are quite bizarre. When thinking about her boyfriend’s death, she laughs it off. I found this extremely odd. You would think moments reflecting back to a personal death would bring about sad emotions, but Oedipa laughs at the situation. It almost makes her appear a little crazy. Even if he was her ex-boyfriend, we know from the situation of the will that they were hot and heavy at some point. There could be many possibilities of the laughter produced from the thought of Pierce’s death. Perhaps it’s a coping mechanism that Oedipa uses to get past his death, joking about the matter to make it seem like a light situation. It truly makes me question the relationship she had with Pierce. They seem like a very quirky couple, but was the love even there? How could she not even be slightly depressed when thinking back on his death? It’s a very perplexing situation. It makes me question the motives of Oedipa. Could it be that she was with Pierce for the amounts of money he held? Her character is already complex within the first paragraph of the book; I can’t even imagine what will happen with her throughout the rest of the book.