The Crying Of Lot 49: Chapter 5

In the beginning of the fifth chapter Oedipa is on the move again continuing her investigation on the Tristero. As the chapter goes on she seems to be completely obssessed and possed by the need to find out what the Tristero is. She floats around the streets on busses and sees the muted horn symbol everywhere. The way the author describes her she seems insane or delusional, she is consumed but the question of what the Tristero is. She begins to see the symbol everywhere showing that either this organization is widely known or of her wishful thinking. Oedipa will go to all measures to discover the secret that she goes to stranger's houses like John Nefastis' house to see if she is a sensitive. But, he wasn't interested in Entropy or science, Oedipa is fearless and vunerable because of her search and she gets into dangerous situations at times. An obsession takes a different toll on each individual and in this case Oedipa may be losing her mind because of a fictional idea. The author is telling the readers that it is good to be curious and inquisitive but with his character he takes a research question and turns it into a strange passion.

When Oedipa is accidentally dragged into a gay bar she meets a man wearing the muted horn as a pin on his shirt and questions him. He tells her that it is an underground society that is against love and serious relationships because they are a dangerous addiction. This explanation throws the reader off since Oedipa has been looking in Inverarity's property and has associated it with the the mail like the pony express. This is just another redherring in the book and I think that it just adds to the suspense and wants the reader to find out what this symbol really means.

Another thing that I had not really payed attention to but occured during the entire novel was the fact that time is very skewed in this book. The author may go on about a single moment for several pages and then will say that a few days passed in a line. This makes the reader confused because even though the book is chronological this does slow or speed up the plot which at times is desirable since this could bore the reader. In the second half of the chapter Oedipa returns home to look for her psychologist and her husband. Her psycologist, Dr. Hilarious has lost his mind and is now completely paranoid while her husband is taking drugs and is completely delusional. She finally sobers up out of her crazy dream and feels at a complete loss because she has lost her husband.

One thing I noticed was that Oedipa admits her infidelity to her husband and mentions his past wanderings. The way that both of them take such a serious act shows their strange personality. Most people would be distraught at the fact that their partner had been with another person but they mention it in passing. I think this shows definite instability in their relationship and also insensitivity, they don't get attached to people because Metzeger and soon enough Mucho will also drop out of the story. Oedipa leaves her husband and goes back to continues investigating since now it seems like her search for the truth of the Tristero is the only thing that she has left.