Crying of Lot 49 Essay
B) Whose self? In the early parts of the novel, Oedipa runs into people with multiple names and identities, or who are actor sor compulsive role-players. (She herself gets the name tag “Arnold Snarb” stuck on her.) Later, the men around her start dissolving or disappearing in even more drastic ways. Obviously, this sense of psychic variability is a result of Pynchon’s method characterization, which gives surface traits rather than psychological depth; still, its good to remember that Hollywood is not far away. But suppose Hollywood is the world? And suppose Pynchon is presenting us with a world without stable selves or idenitities? Write in any way that interests you about a few of these characters and the consequences for Oedipa of her encounters with them.
-Oedipa herself- plays many roles, beginning we see her as a housewife, later as a student, even as a granddaughter -“Banal life at the beginning of the novel (Tupperware, fondue, kirsch, mixing drinks transcendence to protaganist on top of conspiracy, like james bond with affair.) -Remember at the beginning when she talks about all the roles she could play. -gets lost and pretends to be a tourist/stockholder (56) -As granddaughter talking to mr. Thoth (61) -Voyeur Listener and detective (85)
-Pierce- many roles
-Di Presso- lawyer to actor to lawyer
-Metzger- from child star movie/actor to lawyer
-Mucho- car salesman to DJ to molestor/non-law-abider
-Driblette- (pg 51)
-A cross or the initial T? Could be either in the wells fargo incident (60)
-Motherly when meeting Genghis Cohen (64)
-Arnold Snarb (75)
-NAZI salesman- Zapf books
-Buchenwald & Dr. Hilarius- Oedipa turned into her normal conscious self for a little while, tells police her name (95)
-Eyewitness (mucho interviewed her) and edna mosh (pg 97)
E) Paranoia and Reading: How does the experience of reading The Crying of Lot 49 resemble Oedipa’s way of making meaning? -“I want to see if theres a connection. Im curious” at
-Oedipa herself- plays many roles, beginning we see her as a housewife, later as a student, even as a granddaughter -“Banal life at the beginning of the novel (Tupperware, fondue, kirsch, mixing drinks transcendence to protaganist on top of conspiracy, like james bond with affair.) -Remember at the beginning when she talks about all the roles she could play. -gets lost and pretends to be a tourist/stockholder (56) -As granddaughter talking to mr. Thoth (61) -Voyeur Listener and detective (85)
-Pierce- many roles
-Di Presso- lawyer to actor to lawyer
-Metzger- from child star movie/actor to lawyer
-Mucho- car salesman to DJ to molestor/non-law-abider
-Driblette- (pg 51)
-A cross or the initial T? Could be either in the wells fargo incident (60)
-Motherly when meeting Genghis Cohen (64)
-Arnold Snarb (75)
-NAZI salesman- Zapf books
-Buchenwald & Dr. Hilarius- Oedipa turned into her normal conscious self for a little while, tells police her name (95)
-Eyewitness (mucho interviewed her) and edna mosh (pg 97)
E) Paranoia and Reading: How does the experience of reading The Crying of Lot 49 resemble Oedipa’s way of making meaning? -“I want to see if theres a connection. Im curious” at