Sex, Drugs, and Stamps

            At face value, LSD, stamp collections, and sex do not seem to have much in common. However, In The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon convinces readers that these things are more interconnected than one might think. This novel takes on a cynical, almost ironic, worldview that mocks the humanistic desire to ascribe purpose and meaning to life. Through his characters uses of the aforementioned coping mechanisms, readers are shown that one is better off accepting the futility of life rather than wasting time trying to find ways to discover its meaning.

            Throughout the novel, sex is used as a motivation for several of the character’s actions. A prime example of this is seen through Metzger’s lack of development in the story. Early on, the novel’s heroine, Oedipa, travels to San Narciso to meet with Metzger, a lawyer tasked with helping Oedipa execute the estate of Pierce Inverarity, her late ex-boyfriend. Instead of discussing the will, Metzger and Oedipa find themselves playing a game of Strip Botticelli, proposed by Metzger himself, which leads to the two having an affair. At first, it seems as though Oedipa has no interest in having sex with Metzger and puts on every article of clothing she brought with her. After some tequila and back-and-forth questioning, Oedipa resolves to return to the bathroom to put on even more clothing. However, she eventually falls victim to his appearance, that was “so good-looking” it was as if “somebody up there were putting her on” (p.20).

“It struck her that if the sun ever came up Metzger would disappear. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to. She came back in to find Metzger wearing only a pair of boxer shorts and fast asleep…with a cry Oedipa rushed to him, fell on him, began kissing him to wake him up” (pp. 33-34).

            This shows Oedipa’s willingness to adhere to other’s desires instead of her own. Initially Oedipa was so determined to not get undressed in front of Metzger she was left looking like “a beach ball with feet” (p.28). Oedipa originally sought out Metzger to learn what to do with Inverarity’s estate. In contrast, from the onset, Metzger simply wanted to sleep with her. In the end, she did not end up sleeping with Metzger simply because he wanted too, her haste in running over to his sleeping form suggests that his desires became hers as well. Near the end of the novel, readers learn that Metzger, who was absent for a majority of the story, has run off with a young girl to get married. In response to this Oedipa noted that Metzger left “no word to recall that [we] had ever been more than co-executors. Which must mean…that that’s all we were” (p. 142). Not only does this show that his motivations and desires, sex and women, remained largely unchanged, but it also shows that although his actions are quite questionable, he is better off than Oedipa herself. This is primarily because Oedipa spent most of the novel trying to unwrap the mystery that she believed Inverarity left for her but comes up ultimately empty. In this way, Pynchon points out that self-centered cynicism, by chasing your own desires at the expense of others, is more fruitful than searching for life’s meaning.

            Following Oedipa’s convoluted journey of trying to uncover the mystery of The Trystero, she reunites with her husband, Mucho Maas, only to learn that he has been taking LSD. Mucho explained to Oedipa that “you take it because it’s good. Because you hear and see things, even smell them, taste like you never could. Because the world is so abundant. No end to it, baby” (p.139). This shows that through the drug Mucho has found a means to interact with the world in a deeper way, something the average person could only hope to do. What’s more is that he seems to be cured of his nightmares, telling Oedipa “the bad dream that I used to have all the time, about the car lot, remember that? I could never even tell you about it. But I can now. It doesn’t bother me anymore” (p.139). Typically, someone who turns to drugs to escape their issues is seen as weak or at the very least they are considered to have “given up”. This appears to be slightly ironic considering that in the novel Mucho turns to drugs and has unlocked more meaning from life than Oedipa has on her entire quest to find purpose.

            In this novel, Oedipa is the only character who set out to achieve any goal, and in the end, it left her alone and with unanswered questions. Early on in her journey, Oedipa compares her current experience to the “aura” a person with epilepsy feels just before the onset of a seizure. She wonders whether “at the end of this (if it were supposed to end), she too might not be left with only compiled memories of clues, announcements, intimations, but never the central truth itself” (p. 89). This quote functions as a sort of ominous foreshadowing  because at the end of the story, she truly was left devoid of any supposed central truth. In the midst of her quest to learn more about Inverarity’s postage stamps, readers are given the following image of Oedipa: “Oedipa sat, feeling as alone as she ever had…story of my life, she thought…despair came over her, as it will when nobody around has any sexual relevance to you” (p. 111). This demonstrates that Oedipa is potentially worse off than she ever was before she left for San Narciso to execute Inverarity’s will. She is alone, while individuals like Metzger and Mucho are indulging in their desires and experiencing an “enlightenment” of sorts. Pynchon’s comparison of Oedipa’s current state to sexual relevance is also significant. As seen with Metzger, sex is used as a means to escape the reality of the meaninglessness of life. This comparison suggests that Oedipa may have ended up with better fate if she gave into cynicism by indulging in her own interests.

In the novel, Oedipa tells herself that, “this is America, you live in it, you let it happen. Let it unfurl” (p. 145). This is not only quality advice for Oedipa and her journey, but for those who believe that it is worthwhile to search for life’s meaning. Through this novel, Pynchon shows readers that not only is it quite taxing to search for meaning in life, it is also deeply unrewarding.

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