Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49," Chapter 5

For today's class, we were assigned to read the fifth chapter of Thomas Pynchon's, "The Crying of Lot 49." So far, Pynchon has incorporated several times the cultural characteristics of the time period in which this piece of literature was written, and he does so even more in this chapter. During this time, women were allowed more freedom, and Oedipa demonstrates this freely, as she explores her sexuality. For example, Oedipa has an extramarital affair, for no known reason. As opposed to tying sexual relations to love and a relationship, she seems to engage in the affair just for her own sexual enjoyment. She simply sleeps with another man, "just because she can." Also, another character in this chapter, Nefastis seems to inquire a sexual relationship with Oedipa for no other reason than just for his own pleasure. I believe that this type of behavior was the norm, and continues to be today, because of the new freedoms that were given to the women during that time. Another theme is the concept of many of the characters' growing isolation from the outside world. We see this as Pynchon writes "Oedipa sat, feeling as a lone as she ever had, now the only woman, she saw, in a room full of drunken male homosexuals." Oedipa is becoming increasingly separated from her husband and her lover, among others. Oedipa becomes mostly isolated from her husband, as she feels as if she doesn't even know him anymore, because LSD has taken over who he once was. Dr. Hilarius also displays his isolation in this chapter, as he is haunted by his past. I enjoy pieces of literature, such as this, where not only can I read and enjoy the author's work, but also learn and draw conclusions about the surroundings and time period.