Crying Of Lot 49 Analysis

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Eccentricity provides for an interesting story, it adds to the excitement of the lives of those who are eccentric, and adds to the excitement of those who live around them. The Crying of Lot 49, can be classified as a novel that’s oddities in plot makes for a more interesting story. Although sometimes difficult for a reader to completely understand how and why the characters do what they do, the Crying of Lot 49, exemplifies the ideas of a postmodern piece of literature, and critiques the traditional values and ideas of life. Using the model outlined by Deleuze and Guattari, The Crying of Lot 49 is a paradigmatic example of postmodern literature because throughout the novel, the themes of dismantling hierarchy, magnifying principles of difference, and the process of transforming and becoming are present.
In Deleuze and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus, the ideas of the rhizomatic and arboresque are introduced to show how society and culture are organized. Their postmodern view of society is also present in The Crying of Lot 49. In the novel, WASTE is shown as an organization that was created by a group of dissatisfied people as a way to undermine the postal service. Oedipa also meets several other groups similar to WASTE in her search for a conspiracy. Among these groups are the IA group, that swears off love, the Alameda County death Club that sacrifices people on a monthly basis, and the anti-industrial capitalism group, the Peter Pinguids. All of these groups are examples of rhizomatic groups that have no firm hierarchical structure, and want to dismantle the traditional organization of society. These groups show the postmodernism ideas laid out by Deleuze and Guattari, of the rhizomatic groups, that wish to challenge the arbore...

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...der also sees that Oedipa is appearing to have an identity crisis, but eventually evolves into a postmodern heroine. By the end of the novel, she no longer reliant on others, including her husband and psychiatrist, but becomes independent, all characteristics of the postmodern era literature.
The Crying of Lot 49, demonstrates several characteristics of postmodernism laid out by Deleuze and Guattari including the ideas of dismantling hierarchy, magnifying principles of difference, and the process of transforming and becoming. As a postmodern novel, it coincides with the ideas that postmodernism can be useful in pointing out the effects of the uselessness and wastefulness of humans. However, the reader also sees how the characters and novel evolves and become their own independent selves, ready to make their own decisions and not be constrained by what society expec

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