The Value of Meaning-Making (or Lack Thereof)

As established in class, it seems as though one of the major issues Pynchon is dealing with in The Crying of Lot 49 is our search for meaning in the world around us, specifically within literature. Throughout the novel Oedipa is on a quest for a meaning in her life; this quest is mirrored in the reader’s expectation that the novel itself will provide them with sorts of answers. But within the text, Pynchon suggests that that sort of meaning and that sort of concluding statement do not exist.

Oedipa’s quest for meaning is centered on the Trystero and along her journey she encounters the director Driblette, someone she thinks can provide her with direction. His response, however, is not quite what Oedipa is hoping for: “You can put together clues, develop a thesis, or several…You could waste your life that way and never touch the truth” (62). Rather than giving Oedipa the direction in her quest that she is looking for, he suggests that what she is doing is worthless and could all end up being for no reason. Through this character, Pynchon seems to be saying that we, as readers, should not read into things so much, look for a specific answer.

This critique seems to specifically apply to literature and literary studies. We discussed this in class, but we did not spend a whole lot of time talking about the irony of the fact that Pynchon is making this point in a novel. I find this especially funny as well as frustrating because of how complicated and, at times, convoluted The Crying of Lot 49 is. It’s like he’s saying, “I know you’re going to try and find a connection between what you’re reading and your life, so I’m going to make this as unclear and nonsensical as possible.” Today in class a point was made about Pynchon being an engineer and therefore a very logical person who would not necessarily believe in a search for meaning. This to me speaks more to his personality than it does to the “truth” of his work. Just because he does not see the point in searching for meaning in literature, does not mean that there isn’t any. But I can see value in his perspective on “meaning-making”: It seems to me that what Pynchon is saying is not that there is not meaning in life, but that in searching for that meaning we tend to miss the bigger picture, life as an experience.

-Sydney Weaver