What do I think that The Crying Lot of 49 has to deal with our course...

Through reading The Crying Lot of 49, by Thomas Pynchon, I encountered many times of distress and confusion, due to the hectic scenarios given throughout the novel. But, in the end, I was able to connect many of the themes back to what we have been learning this year about the Vietnam War.

Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Oedipa, is on a journey to figure out much of the past history of her ex-lover, Pierce Inverarity, with the assistance of Metzger, the lawyer who is assisting her through the process of the will that Inverarity left her before he died. After encountering the “Tristero,” which is the underground postal service that is to send information without government intervention she and Metzger are then able to connect many things back to Inverarity. This may be looked at as a direct comparison to the Ho Chi Mihn Trail, which transported artillery and supplies to the Viet Cong from the communist in North Korea without South Vietnam being aware. With the communism perspective in mind, we may also recognize that the postal service ran through the government lowered many of their prices on stamps, which put other companies under. This example may be taken as a form of communism, where the government runs the mainstream businesses through the country and puts private businesses out.

During the Vietnam War, many of the Americans were completely displeased and uneasy about the presence of American soldiers in Vietnam. Most felt that it was for the most part a useless cause putting ourselves in a war that had a minimal amount to deal with us in the first place. Many protests and outbreaks were occurring throughout the country, marked most significantly by the protest at Kent State where the police shot four people. This may also be looked at with a outlook of communism. The American government regulated all going through the country, acting as the police, while similarly in Vietnam we acted as the police for South and Northern Vietnam.

Although this book truly baffled me, I was able to think hard about the words Pynchon put together and process the information in quantities to tie it all together in the end. Overall, I feel that this novel has a plethora of information that can be synonymous to our rhetoric class.