The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

“Hanging in the air over her bed she now beheld the well-known portrait of Uncle that appears in front of all our post offices”

                While talking with Dr. Hilarius at three in the morning, Oedipa has a hallucination of Uncle Sam drifting above her. The idea of war is appearing a lot in her mind since the letter announcing her executor of her ex-boyfriend’s will arrived. She suggests, in her mind, that it may have been for the best for her husband Mucho to have been active during the war, maybe he would be tougher, maybe he would not sweat the small things and be less “thin-skinned” and more thick-skinned. War could represent the strength to overtake something, like overtaking an execution of a will.

“Roseman tried to plat footsie with her under the table.”

                Roseman, the attorney, is married as is Oedipa. The attorney expressing affection towards a client is odd, but the fact that Oedipa does not ask him to stop nor pull away is curious as well. Roseman’s profession could indicate that he is a better man than Mucho. An attorney is said to be forceful and strong-willed and must not be overwhelmed by the small things in life. Oedipa may also want his help with the execution of her ex-boyfriend’s will, seeing that she has no experience and therefore has no clue what to do.

“[C]onned herself into the curious, Repunzel-like role of a pensive girl somehow, magically prisoner among the pines”

                Pierce Invariarty looks great on paper especially since he is a rich California real estate mogul. He could very well have been Oedipa’s prince charming. When Oedipa refers to herself as Repunzel, the fairy tell of a princess rescued by a prince charming, it is clear that she feels trapped, not necessarily up in a tower but maybe trapped by her hallucinations or the drugs her Dr. Hilarius prescribes her. Pierce’s money is what helps her escape her entrapment not the man himself. He was incapable of completing her like Mucho does.

kirsch: a fragrant, colorless, unaged brandy distilled from a fermented mash of cherries, produced especially in Germany, Switzerland, and Alsace, France. (The Crying of Lot 49, 1)

codicil: a supplement to a will, containing an addition, explanation, modification, etc., of something in the will. (The Crying of Lot 49, 2)

marjoram: any of several aromatic herbs belonging to the genus Origanum,  of the mint family, especially O. majorana (sweet marjoram),  having leaves used as seasoning in cooking.  (The Crying of Lot 49, 2)

pallid: pale; faint or deficient in color (The Crying of Lot 49, 6)