Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 is basically held together by a big ol' metaphor; a figure of speech: the Tristero. But for Oedipa Maas, this "figure of speech" has to do with the nature of the world in which she lives. A lot of of her quest for the Tristero has to do with how—and to what extent—she can read meaning into a metaphor (the metaphor of the Tristero—it's super-confusing). And what's at stake is not only the truth, but Oedipa's sanity… and maybe the reader's sanity as well.
Questions About Language and Communication
- What role do metaphors play in Lot 49? Does Oedipa think of metaphors as something literal and real, or as elaborate lies?
- Is Oedipa able to distinguish between real meaning and that which only hints at meaning?
- What role do puns play in the book? How much meaning can one read into a pun?
- To what extent is Oedipa's search for the Tristero based upon a language problem?
Chew on This
For both Oedipa and the reader, the Tristero functions more as a metaphor than as a real organization. Oedipa is unable to discover the truth about the Tristero because she approaches the metaphor as if it were real.
Oedipa begins to lose track of reality only when she reads too much meaning into other people's puns and figures of speech.