The contrast between reading The Journey into the Mind of Watts and The Crying of Lot 49 seemed almost like night and day. On one side, Pynchon writes a commentary on the racial tension and repression that is occurred in 1960s in Los Angeles with an obvious intent for the reader to agree with him upon the state of “L.A.'s racial sickness”. On the other hand, in The Crying for Lot 49 Pynchon weaves an intricate mystery, leaving the reading open to interpretation and utilizing confusing symbols and pitfalls to make the reader empathize with the protagonist.
Empathy is a strategy used in both pieces in order to grasp the reader’s attention and pull them into the situation that Pynchon is describing. While confusion and mystery were employed to allow the reader to experience the protagonist’s emotions, Pynchon literally puts the reader into the position of the oppressed blacks in LA. This is achieved by Pynchon’s persistent use of the second person, effectively putting the reader into the position of a repressed black citizen in the neighborhood of Watts. This was especially apparent when Pynchon details the mindset of when someone living in LA is confronted by a police officer as, “both of you silently admitting that all the cop really has going for him is his gun”. By putting you, the reader, into the situation of the people Pynchon is trying to get you to empathize with, he effectively conveys their emotions in a way that could not be achieved by merely telling a story.
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