Comparing Journeys in Thos Pynchons The Crying of Lot 49 :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Parallel Journeys in The Crying of Lot 49 The Crying of Lot 49 offers two journeys into the text that of its protagonist Oedipa, and that which the reader is constrained to take with her. His brilliant drop of detail and word plays blur the lines between the two. The main factor in this journey is chaos, here referred to by its more scientific name entropy. Oedipa and the reader get lost in a system of chaos and the task of deciphering the clues within the intricate system. The reader has no choice nevertheless to become part of this system through cleverly employed tactics Pychon uses to draw one in. The uncertainty and complication of the mystery are the devices typically use to bring a character and or reader to an understanding of oneself, in this case it is questionable whether Oedipa or the reader reach this sort of consciousness. Oedipa through Pynchons scientific/literary metaphors, has a personal awakening that is not quite resolved with the end of the novel. The reader and the protagonist are both left to question what is original and what is fantasy. Pynchon offers clues to the puzzle, but the truth in question is not the Trystero, but Oedipas sanity. Oedipa Mass is forced to involve herself in what seems to be a conspiracy. Her job can be compared to that of Maxwells daemon. As the Demon sat and sorted his molecules into hot and cold, the system was said to lose entropy. But somehow the loss was offset by the information the Demon gained about what molecules were where (p.105). Perception is blurred in the novel through the use of alcohol and drugs and the blurring of communication systems. In this case a form of entropy colligate to the chaos of a communication system is embodied by the W.A.S.T.E. system Oedipa stumbles upon. She must attempt to separate what is real and what is fantasy, to decipher what is important and what is useless information. Pynchons use of detail makes this a difficult task, and the reader is caught up in her worl d of symbols and imagery. His mixture of fiction with history further confuses the reader with the Thurn and Taxis system and the Peter Piguid golf club one is drawn into a world where he/she is reliant upon Oedipa to decipher the clues. Oedipa and the reader are drawn into a constant fear of paranoia.