The Crying of Lot 49

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon is a great example of the times. Released in the 1960’s, Pynchon dabbles in various stereotypes and customs that were seen during this turbulent era. By simply examining the characters you can see some of the stereotypes Pynchon wanted revealed in his writing.

First we examine the main character Oedipa Maas. Oedipa is first revealed to the reader as this humble and wonderful wife to her husband Mucho. Going to Tupperware and staying true to her husband were some of her highest morals… or at least we thought. Once Oedipa gets word of her inheritance and leaves town (and her husband), she becomes untamed and commits infidelity. She exemplifies a life style of free will autonomy that not very any women at this time could have even imagined.

Another characterization theme Pynchon used to show the time was the use of The Paranoids. This music group Oedipa meets at the hotel she stays at demonstrates how music was during this era and how important it was as well. While minor, they are used to show how popular music was to many in this generation.

The Crying of Lot 49 is a radical novel filled with many righteous and far out elements from the 1960’s (I hope I sounded like a hippie). The novel is filled with many satirical elements like Dr. Hilarious who happened to be a drug addicted man trying to kill his patients. Needles to say, this book has many things you will not see from other writers. Pynchon is unique and shows it as he writes this mystery based in the 1960’s.

"The Brooch" by William Faulkner

After reading “The Brooch” by William Faulkner, I reminisced in my mind about the literature we have read this semester and how it has adapted and changed through the course of time. We opened the semester reading Cotton Mather’s “The Christian Philosopher,” among others which explored deep issues like where “we” come from, and how the world was formed. At least for me, it was hard to even stay awake, let alone comprehend these nevertheless, great excerpts. However, now we have gotten into more scandalous, racy stories which grab my attention and draw me in to what happens next. Never was this the case before. Still I feel my change of heart towards the readings comes because of the change of time. Each week our stories kept getting more and more liberal. The freedom of writing was epitomized by the author’s scandalous plots and topics of political issues such as slavery. Faulkner’s “The Brooch” is no different as he constructs a dramatic and mysterious plot with scandalous references that would be thought of as coarse by today’s standards. Such graphic nature by males and sexual openness by females, Faulkner demonstrates how society has changed and become more accepting of such atypical topics out in the open. From a cheating wife, to female beating, Faulkner develops a plot which illustrates in my mind how the people have changed and become more liberal to such issues. Most significantly, I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next, rather than when was it going to end, like before.

"There Was a Queen"

"There Was a Queen" By William Faulkner

I relate Faulkner’s “There was a queen” to a lot of Gertrude Stein’s work as they are both confusing. Needless to say what is confusing about stein, Faulkner at times was just too elaborate and detailed in this story. I just constantly found myself lost in the story only because Faulkner uses so many characters. While this gets confusing, it is amazing how elaborate and complex he makes the plot in the end. Elnora is featured in much of the text but at the end it was like her character wasn’t even needed. This shows how elaborate his plot was and how the main story line truly laid within what we saw as the sub characters (i.e. the writer of the letters). However, Faulkner does use many names in his stories that can confuse the readers such as in paragraph two when many of the characters are being introduced and throughout the entire story when they are cited. While these helped to make the plot more real and complex, it added to my own personal confusion.

While the complexity of the plot was amazing, Faulkner’s use of imagery and describing the setting is phenomenal. He truly gives the reader a great sense of the setting. Whether it is describing the sent of the flowers that wafted from the garden, or how Elanora stood at the door as she crept towards Narcissa and Miss Jenny. This quality Faulkner exemplifies in this story truly draws the reader and helps give the reader a better understanding of the exact setting he wants you to feel or hear.

Composition as Explanation

In this excerpt from Composition as Explanation, Gertrude Stein explores how the arts separate the generations from what is classic and contemporary. At first her writing came off choppy and repetitive, however, more in-depth reading gave me better understanding to the point she was attempting to get across. Pointing out what makes a classic a classic; Stein develops several points that make the reader realize why contemporaries become classics.

After reading Stein’s analysis, it gave me better understanding to how composition works can portray the era that it was composed in. The idea of acceptance seems to be the major theme on when a contemporary piece becomes classic. Simply put, when the general public accepts the piece, it then becomes a classic. Stein describes this as a natural phenomenon. The accepted piece from each era becomes the classics and distinguished pieces of that generation. For example, The Da Vinci Code may be a classic of this era by Stein’s definition. Stein believed that composition is what separated generations. However in this era that we live in today is composition a good enough measure of what makes a generation significant? For instance, should we use the amount of censorship on television and in movies as the gauge of what separates our generation from others? I highly doubt Britney Spear’s antics would be tolerates in the 1960’s (Marylyn was thought of as scandalous and she is a saint compared to Spears). I feel that how much more liberal and open people have become in this era as portrayed through media is the main divide between earlier generations. While composition and literature is an accurate gauge for earlier times, today I feel that the role has shifted and composition can no longer be the judge of a generation.