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This paper aims to examine the meaning of Oedipa’s waiting in Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49. Many critics insist that the meaning of Oedipa’s waiting is useless and pessimistic because the Trystero is an ambiguous entity itself in terms of deconstructive criticism. According to their views, the novel is a pessimistic text. This perspective, however, doesn’t make sense when we consider Oedipa’s Quest of America. Of course, it is true that the deconstructive and postmodernist notions are embedded in the novel. Thus, it is difficult to read hope in the novel’s indeterminacy. But the religious imagery at the end of the novel is suggestive and hopeful. Since Oedipa left Kinneret for San Narciso to execute her late lover’s will, she discovers that people like Inverarity have attempted to remake reality into a super-efficient sameness and to replace all difference and diversity with a useful sameness. Inverarity’s greed combined with the over-idealization of efficiency creates a very undemocratic America. Yet Oedipa can nevertheless produce a critique of Inverarity’s America. Pynchon relates sameness and efficiency in postmodern capitalist culture to Tristero as a social metaphor of difference and diversity which plays an essential metaphorical role in the novel. Finally, in view of Oedipa’s journey of discovery I insist that The Crying of Lot 49 is not the pessimistic text but optimistic text and Oedipa’s waiting is not useless but hopeful and positive.

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 Abstract

키워드

토머스 핀천 기다림 포스트모던 자본주의 트리스테로 동질성 다양성 Thomas Pynchon waiting postmodern capitalism Trystero sameness diversity

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• 박병주 [ Park ByungJoo | 충주대학교 ]

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