TV v. God

[jbor]

    Oedipa stood in the living-room, stared at by the greenish dead eye of
    the TV tube, spoke the name of God, and tried to feel as drunk as
    possible. (5)

Interesting juxtapositions: "living-room", "dead eye", "the name of God". I
think that this one sentence encapsulates the futility of Oedipa's suburban
lifestyle, her own proto-yuppie angst. (As if that fondue-drenched
tupperware party wasn't enough!) The ironic term, which is foregrounded, is
"living-room". Later on Oedipa will watch Huntley and Brinkley and mix
whisky sours for herself and Mucho: it is the normal housewifely routine she
has fallen into.

And, it's significant that the first utterance in the novel is "God": but
it's the "name" only that she speaks, the term used as an expression of
impatience or frustration. A blasphemy. Oedipa's world, at the beginning of
the story at least, is a godless one.

best