Cheating Outside Appearances
After reading the second chapter I began to get more comfortable with the novels structure and Pynchon’s form of writing. This section of the book was much more fluid and its context was explaining a linear plot taking place and not just a random bunch of thoughts and memories as presented in chapter one.
The first detail that came to my attention was the description of San Narciso when Oedipa has just arrived. “Nothing was happening. She looked down a slope, needing to squint for the sunlight, onto a vast sprawl of houses which had grown up all together, like a well-tended crop, from the dull brown earth; and she thought of the time she’d open a transistor radio to replace a battery and seen her first printed circuit.” (pg. 14)This sentence caused a bunch of questions to arise. Why would she compare a city with a battery circuit? What did she mean by “nothing was happening”? Where is San Narciso?
I first began answering my questions by researched for San Narciso. I found out no such city exists, so why would Pynchon make up a city? Could he have a purpose? After thinking about it I came up with two predictions. Initially I thought of San Francisco, Oedipa’s description of the city from a hill reminded me of my visit to San Francisco which I picture just as she mentioned, “the ordered swirl of houses and streets, from this high angle, sprang at her.” (pg. 14) Anyway if the author was referring to San Francisco why would he change its name to San Narciso? Was he prudently making fun of it? My second prediction came in relation to the cities name San Narciso, I immediately made a connection with narcissism which is a trait which derived from a mythological creature which fell in love with his reflection named Narcissus. Therefore narcissism is a characteristic of someone which is self-centered and self-absorbed on a personal appearance. Once again I questioned the relationship between this mockery and a city and indeed I came up with the fact that Pynchon doesn’t like the United States, maybe more specifically Californian cities, perhaps he believes they are superficial and that is why he describes them in such a ridicule way.
The next aspect that came to my attention was Oedipa’s initial reaction to Metzger. She thought he was so good-looking that she considered it was sort of a set up. “…They, somebody up there, were putting her on.” (pg.17) but what did she mean by They? Who was up there? I consider she was referring to God or some spiritual creature. This adds a religious aspect to the novel, but at the same time makes fun of, if this spiritual figure was taken seriously it would not be mentioned because of a handsome lawyer. This lawyer is a very curious character of whom intentions I question. I believe he was so informal when bringing alcohol and being so flirtatious with Oedipa when such a serious matter would be discussed. I consider his superficial personality and his true self is represented by means of describing his fat stomach which had been hidden by the suit. To me this symbolizes the fact that things aren’t always what they appear to be, for instance Metzger looked like an attractive men just coming to solve Pierces will, but indeed his intentions may not have been those but to take advantage of the power Oedipa now held over Pierces belongings and he actually appeared more attractive since his fat body lay hidden behind his suit.
This novel reminded me of Slaughterhouse-Five when referring to the three musketeers. On Vonnegut’s novel the soldiers of war call themselves the three musketeers since they are so close and are fighting together, on The Crying of Lot 49 the father refers to himself the kid and the dog as three musketeers since they are very close and going through the same situation together. Coming close to the end I remembered Dante’s Inferno when in the movie the father replies: “You are for salvation; I am for the Pit.” (pg. 30)This reminded me of hell and heaven and that based on certain sins lays your destiny after death. In this case the dog and child would go directly to heaven; on the other hand the father would go to hell for having involved the other two characters in such a violent situation.
When I finished the chapter there was a small detail that can be of great significance or can be a simple coincidence like most events which happen in this chapter. I began to notice a pattern, in both chapters when coming close to the end Oedipa is shown crying. On chapter number one Oedipa is staring at the painting with Pierce in Mexico and she begins to cry. “Oedipa, perverse, had stood in front of the painting and cried.” (pg. 11) On chapter number two after asking what Inverarity told Metzger about her she bursts in tears. “ ’What did Inverarity tell you about me’ she asked finally. ’That you wouldn’t be easy. ’ She began to cry.” (pg. 30)
The first detail that came to my attention was the description of San Narciso when Oedipa has just arrived. “Nothing was happening. She looked down a slope, needing to squint for the sunlight, onto a vast sprawl of houses which had grown up all together, like a well-tended crop, from the dull brown earth; and she thought of the time she’d open a transistor radio to replace a battery and seen her first printed circuit.” (pg. 14)This sentence caused a bunch of questions to arise. Why would she compare a city with a battery circuit? What did she mean by “nothing was happening”? Where is San Narciso?
I first began answering my questions by researched for San Narciso. I found out no such city exists, so why would Pynchon make up a city? Could he have a purpose? After thinking about it I came up with two predictions. Initially I thought of San Francisco, Oedipa’s description of the city from a hill reminded me of my visit to San Francisco which I picture just as she mentioned, “the ordered swirl of houses and streets, from this high angle, sprang at her.” (pg. 14) Anyway if the author was referring to San Francisco why would he change its name to San Narciso? Was he prudently making fun of it? My second prediction came in relation to the cities name San Narciso, I immediately made a connection with narcissism which is a trait which derived from a mythological creature which fell in love with his reflection named Narcissus. Therefore narcissism is a characteristic of someone which is self-centered and self-absorbed on a personal appearance. Once again I questioned the relationship between this mockery and a city and indeed I came up with the fact that Pynchon doesn’t like the United States, maybe more specifically Californian cities, perhaps he believes they are superficial and that is why he describes them in such a ridicule way.
The next aspect that came to my attention was Oedipa’s initial reaction to Metzger. She thought he was so good-looking that she considered it was sort of a set up. “…They, somebody up there, were putting her on.” (pg.17) but what did she mean by They? Who was up there? I consider she was referring to God or some spiritual creature. This adds a religious aspect to the novel, but at the same time makes fun of, if this spiritual figure was taken seriously it would not be mentioned because of a handsome lawyer. This lawyer is a very curious character of whom intentions I question. I believe he was so informal when bringing alcohol and being so flirtatious with Oedipa when such a serious matter would be discussed. I consider his superficial personality and his true self is represented by means of describing his fat stomach which had been hidden by the suit. To me this symbolizes the fact that things aren’t always what they appear to be, for instance Metzger looked like an attractive men just coming to solve Pierces will, but indeed his intentions may not have been those but to take advantage of the power Oedipa now held over Pierces belongings and he actually appeared more attractive since his fat body lay hidden behind his suit.
This novel reminded me of Slaughterhouse-Five when referring to the three musketeers. On Vonnegut’s novel the soldiers of war call themselves the three musketeers since they are so close and are fighting together, on The Crying of Lot 49 the father refers to himself the kid and the dog as three musketeers since they are very close and going through the same situation together. Coming close to the end I remembered Dante’s Inferno when in the movie the father replies: “You are for salvation; I am for the Pit.” (pg. 30)This reminded me of hell and heaven and that based on certain sins lays your destiny after death. In this case the dog and child would go directly to heaven; on the other hand the father would go to hell for having involved the other two characters in such a violent situation.
When I finished the chapter there was a small detail that can be of great significance or can be a simple coincidence like most events which happen in this chapter. I began to notice a pattern, in both chapters when coming close to the end Oedipa is shown crying. On chapter number one Oedipa is staring at the painting with Pierce in Mexico and she begins to cry. “Oedipa, perverse, had stood in front of the painting and cried.” (pg. 11) On chapter number two after asking what Inverarity told Metzger about her she bursts in tears. “ ’What did Inverarity tell you about me’ she asked finally. ’That you wouldn’t be easy. ’ She began to cry.” (pg. 30)
1 comment:
This is a beginning. I'll give you more time to complete these entries. Like any novel, it's hard to get engaged at first. Still, you've had three weeks now.
Look into Narcissus.
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