Well, so far "The Crying of Lot 49" has gone in a totally different direction then I imagined it to when first reading Chapters 1-2. Ironically, the story has not really focused on what Oedipa plans to do with Pierce's estate, since she is the executor. Instead, the story has become some sort of a mystery with Oedipa playing detective. After Oedipa discovers a secretive mail system, she wants to know more about the system, how to get involved, and why it relates back to Pierce. Finally, Oedipa follows one of the mail carriers and discovers how the mail system works also while noticing different clues such as WASTE and DEATH and the muted horn and the deaf dancers.
When reflecting back on all of the Chapters (1-5), thus far, there is a lot of information to sort through. The main points that have stood out to me are obviously how the death of Pierce affected not only Oedipa but the entire community, the alcohol and drug abuse by most of the characters, the muted horn and its correlation to the secret mail system, and the masculine dominance in Oedipa's life. There are probably many other points, but like I said, there is a lot of information to sort through that has built on itself throughout the entire story.
Right at the beginning of Chapter 6, Oedipa runs into the same band "The Paranoids" at the hotel where she finds out Metzger has ran away with the Serge's ex-girlfriend, "Why did they run around, why did she put me down," (Page 147). Serge has written a song and sings it to Oedipa to elaborate on the situation and express his feelings. In the line, "...they are stripping away, one by one, my men." (Page 152-153) Oedipa obviously is upset by Metzger's actions and feels as if they are all leaving her. First Pierce passed away leaving her everything, second Mucho has started abusing drugs and has "checked out", and finally Metzger has ran away to marry somebody else. Perhaps Oedipa's actions of adultery are finally catching up to her. Personally, I do not think that Oedipa can be upset about Metzger running away because she basically did the same thing to her husband, even before he started abusing drugs.
Oedpia then goes to meet with Emory Bortz to talk more about the secret mail system and where it rooted from. When Bortz goes into the history of the "Trystero" he dates back to many many years ago, "Robert Scurvham had founded, during the reign of Charles I, a sect of most pure Puritans." This not only highlights the accountability of the secret mail system but also the fact it was based off of religious values by the Puritans. Ironic to me, is that some of the acronyms for the mail system are DEATH and WASTE, which clearly are negatively connotative words. Also, after realizing that the Trystero dates back to many, many years ago it is evident that Pierce was not responsible for this secret mail system, just possibly kept it alive within his investments.
After speaking with Bortz, Oedipa goes back to The Scope and runs into Mike Fallopian, who has a much different look. Fallopian invited Oedipa to sit with him and discuss the discoveries she has made, but then adds a twist. '"Has it ever occured to you, Oedipa, that somebody's putting you on? That this is all a hoax, maybe something Inverarity set up before he died?"' (Page 167) Basically making everything questionable that Oedipa has discovered and I, the reader, have tried to discover myself about the entire context of the story. Soon after Oedipa was questioned and perhaps doubted in her discoveries, she finds out that Pierce has relations to most, if not all, of the connections Oedipa has made to the Trystero. She then starts to doubt herself, and believe that maybe Fallopian was right and Pierce set this entire thing up to: "Or loyal, for free, for fun, to some grandiose practical joke he'd cooked up, all for her embarrassment, or terrorizing, or moral improvement?"
I feel that if Pierce really did set this entire system up to "embarrass or terrorize" Oedipa there would not be as many historical references that relate back to the beginning of the Trystero. Then again, if Pierce had as much control over his area that it seems by the amount of money and investments he has, he could have possibly pulled a "joke" like this off. When thinking about the fact that Oedipa put all of her time into discovering what the secret mail system was all about it makes me think of real life situations. Specifically in my major, Mechanical Engineering, people may put so much time into one design approach or project that they truly believe it is the most functional, innovative idea. Then, they find out that the project has already been thought of or their project is not as functional or innovative as they thought and someone can come up with something better. However, like in engineering, Oedipa may have opened up an entire "can of worms" or "idea" coming from an engineering prospective that could lead to many other discoveries. If Pierce really did in fact make this entire Trystero up, he may be hiding something, that Oedipa may discover easier because she now knows the way Pierce thinks.
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