It seems that almost as soon as the idea of a conspiracy theory within the mail service is proposed, Oedipa adopts and clings to it. Her obsession with it begins rather quickly and can, in my opinion, be seen in most scenes of the novel. At the onset of chapter 4, we can already see that Oedipa is spiraling along with this theory. She believes that “the more she collected the more would come to her until everything she saw, smelled, dreamed, remembered, would somehow come to be woven into The Tristero.” (81) This foreshadowed her obsession with the conspiracy as seen in chapter 5 when she is wandering around the city, seeing the post horn in everything around her and believing that everyone she encounters is somehow related to the conspiracy. (123) She has convinced herself of the theory, saying that, “The repetition of symbols was to be enough…She was meant to remember.” (118) The search for these clues has taken over her life and even she “could not believe that 24 hours had passed.” (131) The obsession has taken over her mind and, from her desire to believe it, she begins to see signs of the conspiracy everywhere, whether it is physically present or a projection of her mind remains unknown to both the audience and to Oedipa herself.
I think the simple fact that Oedipa was in such a liminal state in her life was a foreshadow to her obsession with the Trystero conspiracy. Oedipa, as we know, has had numerous romantic relationships and we only see three: Pierce Invarerity, Mucho Maas, and Metzger. The narrative goes at length describing the night-long scene between Oedipa and Metzger. I think it provides an insight into how vulnerable she was at this stage in her life--she was looking for anything to hang on to for stability.
The novel also begins with somewhat scattered plots, jumping from one scene to another, however once Oedipa finds the post horn symbol on the stall in a bathroom, just after learning about suspected corruption within the mail service, the reader really begins to follow Oedipa on her detective work.
Overall, I think the scenes and background information given before initially finding the symbol set a tone of instability for Oedipa, and the search for stable, truthful information becomes an obsession that projects itself onto the world around her.
In the first two chapters of the book, the only evidence that Oedipa will look into a conspiracy theory is her curiosity. She does question why Pierce would leave her to deal with his will, but for the most part she just accepts it and leaves her home and her husband to try to resolve it. Her ability early on the book to accept her duty to look into a will without many questions or protest is similar to her decision to look into a conspiracy theory later on in the book. Granted, she has to look into the will and doesn’t have to look into the conspiracy theory, but her curiosity and acceptance of weird situations are characteristics that could easily translate into looking into a conspiracy theory.
Metzger takes her to The Scope, and during this scene she is introduced to the idea of the mail conspiracy. Before that, she noted that everyone was dressed weirdly and seemed to stare at her. Oedipa is quick to believe what most people wouldn’t. Most people don’t walk into a bar and believe that everyone in it is looking at them. Also, most people take their prescriptions and trust their doctors. They aren’t quick to believe that the drugs they receive will hurt them, but Oedipa refuses to take them because she believes that Dr. Hilarius might be giving her something other than tranquilizers. I think this paranoia and ability to accept and even fabricate a reality that most people would deny foreshadow Oedipa’s decision to believe a conspiracy theory and look into it.
It seems that almost as soon as the idea of a conspiracy theory within the mail service is proposed, Oedipa adopts and clings to it. Her obsession with it begins rather quickly and can, in my opinion, be seen in most scenes of the novel. At the onset of chapter 4, we can already see that Oedipa is spiraling along with this theory. She believes that “the more she collected the more would come to her until everything she saw, smelled, dreamed, remembered, would somehow come to be woven into The Tristero.” (81) This foreshadowed her obsession with the conspiracy as seen in chapter 5 when she is wandering around the city, seeing the post horn in everything around her and believing that everyone she encounters is somehow related to the conspiracy. (123) She has convinced herself of the theory, saying that, “The repetition of symbols was to be enough…She was meant to remember.” (118) The search for these clues has taken over her life and even she “could not believe that 24 hours had passed.” (131) The obsession has taken over her mind and, from her desire to believe it, she begins to see signs of the conspiracy everywhere, whether it is physically present or a projection of her mind remains unknown to both the audience and to Oedipa herself.
ReplyDeleteI think the simple fact that Oedipa was in such a liminal state in her life was a foreshadow to her obsession with the Trystero conspiracy. Oedipa, as we know, has had numerous romantic relationships and we only see three: Pierce Invarerity, Mucho Maas, and Metzger. The narrative goes at length describing the night-long scene between Oedipa and Metzger. I think it provides an insight into how vulnerable she was at this stage in her life--she was looking for anything to hang on to for stability.
ReplyDeleteThe novel also begins with somewhat scattered plots, jumping from one scene to another, however once Oedipa finds the post horn symbol on the stall in a bathroom, just after learning about suspected corruption within the mail service, the reader really begins to follow Oedipa on her detective work.
Overall, I think the scenes and background information given before initially finding the symbol set a tone of instability for Oedipa, and the search for stable, truthful information becomes an obsession that projects itself onto the world around her.
In the first two chapters of the book, the only evidence that Oedipa will look into a conspiracy theory is her curiosity. She does question why Pierce would leave her to deal with his will, but for the most part she just accepts it and leaves her home and her husband to try to resolve it. Her ability early on the book to accept her duty to look into a will without many questions or protest is similar to her decision to look into a conspiracy theory later on in the book. Granted, she has to look into the will and doesn’t have to look into the conspiracy theory, but her curiosity and acceptance of weird situations are characteristics that could easily translate into looking into a conspiracy theory.
ReplyDeleteMetzger takes her to The Scope, and during this scene she is introduced to the idea of the mail conspiracy. Before that, she noted that everyone was dressed weirdly and seemed to stare at her. Oedipa is quick to believe what most people wouldn’t. Most people don’t walk into a bar and believe that everyone in it is looking at them. Also, most people take their prescriptions and trust their doctors. They aren’t quick to believe that the drugs they receive will hurt them, but Oedipa refuses to take them because she believes that Dr. Hilarius might be giving her something other than tranquilizers. I think this paranoia and ability to accept and even fabricate a reality that most people would deny foreshadow Oedipa’s decision to believe a conspiracy theory and look into it.