A WASTE of symbols? Chapter 4 of the Crying of Lot 49

In the fourth chapter of The Crying of Lot 49, Oedipa begins to tie the loose ends of Inverarity’s clues and she finds out on her own about various scandals while no one really suspects that all of that is going on. The author doesn’t give the reader the chance to make that much connections and interpretations because the main character begins to discover everything and she states it directly without hiding information.

The first big clue is the symbol that Oedipa finds in the bathroom door. This symbols appears many times throughout the chapter and there is an specific moment were it is given a lot of importance, “‘The watermark’ Oedipa peered. There it was again, her WASTE symbol showing up black...”(77) I this part of the novel, Oedipa unites the WASTE inscription that she had found before with the symbol. The use of clues hieroglyphics and secret codes, are very innovative in literature. The author is establishing a genre that uses elements that make the novel interesting to read. The interpretation given by the characters to the symbols may not always be the correct one. The author may do this to trick the reader so that it is more challenging to find out what is really going on.

More of the words and terms from the play continue to reappear and they contribute to the development of the plot. One perfect example of this is the following quote, “From the same plastic folder he now tweezed what looked like an old German stamp, with the figures ¼ in the center, the word Freimarke at the top, and along the right –hand margin the legend Thurn and Taxis ... From about 1300, until Bismark bought them out in 1867, Mix Maas, they were the European Mail system.”(77) The Thurn and Taxis are mentioned her as well as in the play. Oedipa finds out they were the European mail system and so she begins to understand that Pierce knew something about all of this that nobody else did and that he put all of this clues in different places, such as the play, public places, etc so that Oedipa also knew the truth and would be able to revel it. The tone that is used by the characters, specially the new ones, seems to indicate that there is some kind of conspiracy going on, and that it has to do with a lot of people. I would say that this great mystery will have a world wide importance and that it’s probably because of that why Pierce left so many tracks to follow. Although the book tends to be mysterious, it is written in a way that it doesn’t allow it to be categorized as a mystery and suspense book. The elements that are used are unique and the connections are made by the characters, and not the readers, probably because of its complexity.

In this chapter I didn’t find any allusions or obvious connections to other pieces. The text has been sending many signals towards us, the readers to begin to analyze the plot and unravel the mystery that has been building up intrigue on us. The historical background has been a useful tool because it makes is sound more real and less fictitious. The novel has developed quickly and I’m sure that soon the truth will be unrevealed.

The apearence of entropy in the novel is the most absurd literary element that I had ever seen in a novel. Belivig that you can challenge certain forces and laws of nature makes no sense at all. The demon is probably a fake excuse to drag Oedipa into beliving, but at the end we can see that the intention is practically sexaul. Pychon uses the absurd to achieve a satirical tone to his text, so that the readers can think that it was a clever move from the author, and that it was actually very funny, although it wasn't as obvious.

Vocabulary:

protruded: to thrust forward; cause to project.

hatching: To devise or originate, especially in secret

languidly: lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow