The Crying Of Lot 4: Oedipa's Struggle With Communication

Oedipa’s Struggle with Communication In Thomas Pynchon’s novel, The Crying of Lot 4, the concept of communicating effectively in the present and between generations is a major theme and is the cause for much of the chaos that occurs in the novel. As we continue to move deeper into the 21st century, this novel shows us that it is truly impossible to know for sure what happened in the past and what is true and not true from historical text. This is shown in the novel through the central character, Oedipa and her struggle to solve the mystery of the Tristero through letters and illusions that ultimately in the end are meaningless. The symbol of the muted horn is the main symbol that leads Oedipa to believing that there is an underground conspiracy

The muted horn is a symbol that Oedipa believes to be linked to an underground mail system known as W.A.S.T.E and also associated with a group known as the Tristero. Oedipa’s discovery of this symbol leads her to believe that she has come upon a vast conspiracy; however she is completely unsure if this is true. Oedipa does extensive research on the muted horn and the Tristero, eventually leading her to question her own sanity and left to wonder if her ex-boyfriend, Pierce Inverarity is simply playing a prank on her. This ultimately leads to much of the chaos in the book, and causes Oedipa to be confused and go somewhat insane. Pynchon uses the postal stamps and horn as a way of showing the idea of communication and how it can fail to pass along correct information at times. Oedipa is constantly getting what she thinks are symbols being passed along to her and causes her to think that there is something going on that she should know about, even though there isn’t. Some of the symbols Oedipa receives are mail letters that a mail delivery group is forced to mail out once a week, even if they have nothing to say. Oedipa looks far too deeply into these letters and takes them as a sign that there is something bigger going on. Communication is tried to be passed along to Oedipa in many different ways throughout the novel, however never fully does, causing confusion and leading to much confusion and turmoil throughout the