The Crying of Lot 49 - Is the Truth Out There ? In a story as confusing and ambiguous as Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, it is difficult to connect any aspect of the book to a piece of modern culture. However, Oedipa's quest, her search for the truth, and the paranoia therein, are inherent in the plots of today's most-watched television and movies. Though many themes from the story can be tied to modern culture, perhaps the most prominent is the theme of a quest for truth. Oedipa's quest is best represented via a popular FOX television show called The X-Files. At first sight, the comparison is almost too obvious. Agent Fox Mulder, played by David Duchovny, seeks the truth behind the apparent mystery of alien abduction and the supernatural, a quest that he dubs "the X-Files". Oedipa, too, is looking for the truth underneath her mystery: WASTE. Both characters yearn for the truth behind events, a truth that may or may not exist, in mysteries that fold plots upon themselves endlessly. Beyond the obvious similarities, however, lie more, almost uncanny, parallels. Though both Mulder and Oedipa claim to seek the truth, what they both seek is resolution to the questions within themselves. For example, it is understood by fans of The X-Files that Mulder began his search for extraterrestrial life with the supposed alien abduction of his sister. The quest for the truth, then, is personalized for Agent Mulder, as he himself claims that he would not work as an FBI agent if his sister had not been [supposedly] abducted. Oedipa is on a personal quest as well. No other character in the story seeks the "truth" behind WASTE, the muted courier's horn, the play The Courier's Tragedy, Pierce Inverarity's stamps, and a secret postal service. In fact, no one else has ever before made such a [possibly ridiculous] connection! So, as both characters seek their personal truths, they slowly begin to fear that no answer exists. The motives of these two seekers are important, and indeed similar. There seems to be an obsession to find a truth in symbols (be they horns or crop circles), a truth that both characters come to realize may not even exist. By definition, obsession is "a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling". Therefore, the moment that their questions are absolved, the moment that their hypotheses are proved, the quest and its subsequent paranoia, frustration, and pain are removed. The motive is fear that the quest is unending, that there is no answer to the questions, and perhaps that there truly was no mystery to begin with. For each character, Mulder and Oedipa, this fear drives them in their personal quests for the truth. Many themes from The Crying of Lot 49 can be seen in modern culture, especially movies: paranoia in Conspiracy Theory and Enemy of the State, and Hilarius's psycho-drug culture in Girl Interrupted. However, no movie or show ties so well to Oedipa's quest as FOX's The X-Files. Both Oedipa Maas and Fox Mulder seek personal truths, one based on a secret postal system, another on alien intervention in human life, but they hold more in common than it first appears. Maybe aliens are delivering mail behind the back of the US government.
In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand. The book is about a dude named Equality 7-2521.
Many of the character have the same characteristics in the Odyssey and O brother. An examples of this is found between Odysseus and Everett. The main goal for both of these characters throughout the story is returning to their family, but there is many incidents before their goal is achieved. Both protagonists believe that they are the greatest and that they don’t need any help from the Gods. This is shown because Odysseus does not sacrifice
...e. By Homer's art of story telling, the audience, like Odysseus, learns to discern from past experience when to conceal and reveal personal information.
The Oedipus complex came to my knowledge in my first semester of college, during my English class as we study Greek mythology. The first time I read the story I took it as it was; a story. But later on, on my first psychology class I finally understood the complexity of it and how it was used. Even now after a few more classes on psychology I still have some disagreements and have a hard time accepting it. It is because of my background that I’m facing challenges with t...
Most alcoholics proceed to a stage where their brains or their bodies have been so harmed by alcohol that the effects persist even when they are not drinking. This stage may be reached...
For Oedipus, one of the attributes that affected his ultimate destination in life was his intense desire for knowledge and truth. One of the driving forces in the play is Oedipus' desperate attempt to find out the truth of his origin. He pushes Tiresias, Creon, Jocasta, the oracle, the messenger, and the shepherd for information regarding his beginnings. Each of these characters refuses to give him a straight answer at the very least. Even as he draws nearer to the answer, and the others have long-since put the pieces together, Oedipus pushes beyond the comfort levels for the answer. He says, "I can't stop now. Not with all my birth clues in my hands," (59). The desire for truth, so deeply rooted in his honest character, pushed him to continue his search, ultimately leading to his downfall. He had the capability to discontinue the plight, however, and made the independent decision to continue.
Alcoholism is an increasing problem, which has many objectionable consequences. "Excessive drinking involved in 70 percent of deaths from falls, 69 percent of drownings, 83 percent of fatal fire accidents, 40 percent of accidental deaths in the job, 50 percent of highway fatalities, 52 percent of spouse beatings, and 38 percent of child abuse." (Allan Luks, 13) So alcoholism causes many troubles. It can destroy a person's life: relationship with family and relatives, and even one's attitude toward life.
"I had my first drink when I was about five years old…from then on, alcohol was my constant companion, friend, and spiritual advisor…25 years later…I laid in the middle of my living room with a loaded rifle in my mouth wanting to end it all" (Alfred). Alcoholism is a chronic disease in which a person may become dependent on alcohol, to the extent where it affects your life. Alcoholics have an uncontrollable need for alcohol. Their lives revolve around drinking, which dominates the way that they think, feel, and act (Alcohol Use and Abuse). It breaks up families, it ends jobs, and it shortens lives. "Alcoholism," originated in 1849 by a "Swedish physician, Magnus Huss," can be a disease that can take over your life, but with time and commitment can be overcome (Getting the Facts).
The problem of alcohol abuse has been recognized for thousands of years, but only more recently have we begun to see alcohol addiction as a treatable disorder. According to the Classical Disease Model of `Alcoholism,' habitual use of alcohol can be identified as a disease. Webster's Dictionary defines the concept of `disease' as follows: "Any departure from health presenting marked symptoms; malady; illness; disorder." Therefore, as many occurrences of alcohol excess provoke such symptoms, it is somewhat understandable that `alcoholism' is classified as a disease. The Classical Disease Model appears to offer a hopeful option. Treatment and sobriety can allow people to lead fulfilling lives. Adjacent to the notion of alcoholism as personal failure or moral deterioration, the Classical Disease Model appears to be a more desirable concept as it provides a motive for the alcoholic to seek treatment and gain sympathy, minimizing personal guilt. As alcoholism is seen as a progressive and, to an extent, hereditary illness for which those afflicted are not accountable, victims avoid being ostracized from society (Jellinek, 1960). Labeling the problem as a `disease' allows the medical profession to take responsibility for the treatment of alcoholism, which puts the problem in a more favourable light than if it were in the hands of psychologists or social workers, thus detaching the stigma connected with the problem while it is put on a par with other diseases such as diabetes or cancer. However, critics of the Classical Disease Model believe stigma helps reduce alcohol problems and aids the alcoholic. Any effort to reduce the stigma which is faced by the alcoholic will reduce pressures to moderate consumption and could have the additional ...
What is alcoholism? Alcoholism is a complex chronic psychological and nutritional disorder associated with excessive and usually compulsive drinking. Alcoholic abuse is a destructive pattern of alcohol use, leading to significant social, occupational, or medical impairment. A persons alcohol tolerance can be measured by how many alcoholic beverages they can drink before becoming intoxicated. Being an alcoholic has several downfalls, such as the withdrawal symptoms. Some of the withdrawal symptoms consist of sweating or rapid pulse, increased hand tremor, insomnia, nausea or vomiting, anxiety or grand mal seizers. There are two types of drinkers. The first type, the casual or social drinker, drinks because they want to. They drink with a friend or with a group for pleasure and only on occasion. The other type, the compulsive drinker, drinks because they have to; despite the adverse effects that drinking has on their lives. The cause of alcoholism is a combination of biological, psychological, and cultural factors that may contribute to the development of alcoholism in an individual. Alcoholism seems to run in families. "Although there is no conclusive indication of how the alcoholism of families members is associated, studies show that 50 to 80 percent of all alcoholics have had a close alcoholic relative" (Some researchers have suggested that in several cases, alcoholics have an inherited, predisposition to alcohol addiction. Studies of animals and human twins h...
Heredity, conditioning, and environment can contribute to the use of alcohol. One beverage can affect parts of the brain and nervous system. Sensory input then comes into play when alcohol is consumed. Symptoms depend on many factors such as one’s body itself and the amount of alcohol intake. Not only does alcohol affect the person consuming it but others around them, impact relationships, and group behavior. Therefore, after the individual has taken beverage after beverage of alcohol the body will start showing signs of damage to the body both internally and externally.
The investigation begins because the oracle reveals the panacea to the plague invading Thebes is the exile or death of Laios’s murderer. Oedipus ignores a well-known holy prophet, Terisias, who told him the true murderer. Iokaste tells Oedipus he is right to ignore prophecy because she did when she was told the misfortune she, Laios, and her son were to endure; she beileved it was succesfully avoided. Oedipus fled Corinth because he was told he was to murder his father, who he thought was Polybos at the time, and have children with his mother. Everything prophecised by the gods happened despite great efforts to terminate fate’s influence. The dint of one’s will can never overcome the dint of fate and celestial beings; fate is
“Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.” ( http://thinkexist.com/quotes/sylvia_plath/)
In conclusion, accepting what we just read, we can determine that setting out to find the truth may not always be your best option, because although it may answer questions we have and satisfy our urge, it does not always yield the outcome in which we were searching. Nonetheless, once Oedipus discovered the truth, I find his decision to stand by the punishment set forth by his own orders to be a noble and heroic one, just as all the citizens of Thebes had always seen him as. Therefore, even though we may or may not understand Oedipus’ persistence to seek the truth, we have gained an understanding as to why persistency to find truth can be harmful to an individual or even to an entire group, some things are just better left unsaid or unknown.
The role of abandonment in The Glass Menagerie can best be described as the plot element that underlies the overall tone of despondence in the play because it emphasizes the continuous cycle of destruction and hardship that the Wingfield family experiences; indeed, abandonment in the play is a reiterative element that strips the excesses from the three main characters in the play and leaves them in their barest forms, united by a sorrowful reality and clutching each other through the ever-present need to sink into a self-constructed oblivion. The first, and perhaps the most notable and most frequently discussed, example of abandonment in the play would be that of Amanda Wingfield’s husband’s abandonment of his family; he left them at an unspecified time in the past because “he fell in love with long distances,” and evidently forsook any obligations and emotional affiliations that he may have had with his wife and offspring (Williams 5). Having been abandoned by a man who was both husband and father affected Amanda, Tom, and Laura in that it established many of their familial dynamics...