Why this book?

As I was reading The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, there were many moments of confusion for me. The chaotic communication from author to reader about the story of Oedipa's investigation of her ex-lover's intriguing time on Earth,was hard to understand until the end of the novel. Oedipa's confusion and frustrations sat deep with me as she unraveled an astonishing history of a secret, private postal service that dated back more than 800 years.

Even before being prompted, I was curious to learn why this book was chosen for this course. I decided that there must be some parallels between the subject matter of the book and either learning rhetoric or learning about the history of America during the Vietnam War.

There is not in place a capitalist postal system in the United States. The US Postal Service has a monopoly in the US, preventing private postal companies (such as perhaps, the Tristero) from thriving in the market. As described in the novel, The Tristero, or secret postal service, is a way of transmitting letters via a secret “underground” service that cannot be infiltrated by government agencies or individuals wishing to gather information about anyone. Thomas Pynchon writes, “Other immigrants come to America for freedom from tyranny, acceptance by the culture, assimilation into it, this melting pot. Civil War comes along, most of them, being liberals, sign up to fight to preserve the Union. But clearly not the Tristero (Pynchon, 143).” The monopolization of the postal system in America by reducing prices and stamping out the competition was not quite enough to put under the Tristero. Pynchon uses this storyline to argue that the fear of communism should be directed inward to our own systems instead of outward to the systems of countries abroad. This obviously parallels with the struggles that America was facing during the 1960’s, when this novel was set.

During this time period, there was a great deal of unrest among American citizens due to the conflicting ideals revolving around the Vietnam War. The United States was acting as a police state in a foreign country to rid Indochina of communist governments. This novel, suggests that maybe America is unfit to wear this police badge because America itself had a government controlled and regulated postal system.

Oedipa’s detective work with Pierce’s estate serves as a guideline for readers to investigate the actions of the systems that govern our lives. It is a protest against conformity and narrow-mindedness when thinking about the best way to govern a country. The paranoia of communist "domino" takeover should encompass a revisitation of the systems that are in place in our own country. If capitalism really is the answer, we should evaluate our own strategy to acheiving this free market.