In Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, standard hierarchical structures are abandoned in a context of postmodern cultural chaos. The use of fragmented pop culture contributes to many aspects of the book, including the sense of combined freedom in the search for meaning. Furthermore, this strange jumble of references and images comments on the setting of the novel. California itself is famous for its overt and excessive modernity, often ahead of the curve in popular culture. But this advantage is accompanied by a tendency towards nonsense, towards lack of depth. Fragmentation illustrates this superficial sensitivity by developing countless, even entertaining, details without force or central purpose. Without unifying meaning, these fragments overwhelm something identifiable in any aspect of contemporary life, in any region. They distract the attention of the protagonist and the reader from any point. But this ambiguity is the problem itself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Pynchon maintains a decidedly modern preoccupation in his chaotic embellishments. In the tradition of Eliot and Joyce, he rebels against any imposed structure. (Fisher, in lecture, 4/24/00) Without any hierarchy to govern the direction of the story, there is a renewed sense of freedom. This is highlighted by Oedipa's lack of connections or responsibilities. She is able to simply leave her husband, wander all over California, and come back whenever she wants. But freedom can also create a lack of order that goes too far, a state of negative chaos without justification. Oedipa wants to believe, as she does early on, that "...it fits together logically. As if...there is a revelation going on all around her." (30) The defect of this apparently innocent freedom lies in the sacrifice of reason. This becomes clear as Oedipa begins to seek order as much as pleasure and liberation. This no longer happens simply as a revelation, but motivates his action. She becomes an agent in search of meaning when she goes to Scope, a local bar "because it seemed like a pattern was starting to emerge..." (71) Perhaps Oedipa cannot prevent his “increasing obsession with contributing something of itself”. "...to the dispersal of the commercial interests that had survived Inverarity, she would give them order, she would create constellations." (72) Surrounded by chaos, she recognizes the necessity of this force, and assumes that it can restore logic, and therefore meaning. The desire to create a link between scattered information is foreign to the world in which Oedipa operates, and therefore quite difficult. . The first sign of trouble might be that "much of the revelation was to come through [a] stamp collection...thousands of little colored windows looking out on deep vistas of space and time: savannahs teeming with elk and gazelles, galleons sailing westward in the void, Hitler's heads, sunsets, cedars of Lebanon, allegorical faces that never existed..." (30) This conglomerate of Useless and outdated imagery is a perfect metaphor for the fragmentation of pop culture in strange Californian post-modernity. It's an apt illustration of the scene on which our protagonist attempts to find a conspiracy. piling into a strangely poetic list, these images overwhelm the reader But once past the rapture of its possible meaning, one cannot help but wonder, as Oedipus does "...if, at the end of this (). if this was supposed to end), shecould not, too, end up with only memories compiled of clues, announcements, indications, but never the central truth itself, which must somehow be too brilliant each time so that her memory can retain her. (76) This is essentially the question posed by the pop culture ambush. The story only moves forward thanks to Oedipus's deep desire to find something unifying in the vast amount of information she absorbs every day. Much information, is a decidedly modern idea. Industry and technology evolve too quickly, inspiring a transient culture without any anchor. This idea is often brought up, as with "radio stations playing songs in the lower reaches of the Top 200, which would never become popular, whose melodies and lyrics would perish as if they had never been sung." (99) In such a state of constant bombardment, everyone must project their own desires onto the cultural landscape, creating a bond that makes their world less intimidating and temporary. Oedipa does this with his notion of conspiracy. One night, she wanders through the city, a modern landscape par excellence, with the hope that "each clue that comes is supposed to have its own clarity, its good chance of permanence". (95) Moreover, the range of “clues” she encounters are lush vignettes of modern life. There is "a dreamy, drifting cloud of delinquents dressed in summer gang jackets with a post horn sewn with thread that appears to be pure silver" (98) and "a bus full of exhausted blacks who go on duty in cemeteries all over the city, ... scratched on the back of a seat, shining for her in the shiny, smoky interior, the post horn. (98) The language used in these passages makes very clear distinctions. The fragments of reality of the delinquents, the sad state of the Negroes are dark in comparison to the symbol which emerges so brilliantly in them. In the face of so much frustration, Pynchon creates a real visual connection for Oedipa to cling to. The deep, subliminal need to connect familiar fragments together speaks volumes about the effect of constant fragmentation on the human soul. Oedipa begins to seek human connection in all his desire for order. His loneliness is a result of his environment, as is his constant need to alleviate it. The postmodern state creates lives like the ones Oedipa sees that night. The similarity between these observations is the absolute loneliness and sadness in the language. This is hardly a unifying bond. How can we not seek control, and above all security, in a world that creates the "aging night watchman, nibbling on a bar of ivory soap, who had trained his virtuoso stomach to also accept lotions, deodorants, fabrics , tobacco”. and flourishes in a desperate attempt to assimilate it all, all the promises, the productivity, the betrayal, the ulcers, before it's too late? » (100) The sacrifices made to “democratize language” (Fisher, in conference, 04/24/00) through fragmentation are not worth this barrier. Oedipus becomes more alone than liberated by his freedom of association. Oedipus' need for deep human connection is a symptom of his increasing isolation. She constantly turns to men in her search. When she first meets Metzger, she demonstrates confidence and even playfulness in her sexuality. But even her agreement to sleep with him comes in a moment of distraction, of fragmentation: "'What do you want to bet, then?' She knew. Stubborn, they looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like five minutes. She heard commercials going on and off the TV speaker. She became increasingly angry, perhaps full of juice..