Modernism Vs. Postmodernism pt 1: The Crying of Lot 49

[Robin Landseadel]

 From Examiner.com San Jose

Michelle Cannon
West Palm Beach Literature Examiner

	The relationship between modernism and postmodernism is
	often complicated as both genres share certain similarities as
	well as differences. E.L. Doctorow’sRagtime and Thomas
	Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 are examples of the
	relationship between these two genres. In both novels,
	discarded objects play a crucial role in establishing the
	relationship between modernism and postmodernism.
	Throughout both of these texts, there are numerous examples
	of not only discarded objects, but also discarded people and
	ideas. This recurrent theme intertwines itself within both of
	these novels and becomes vital to the understanding of the
	relationship between modernism and postmodernism. This first
	article will entail a discussion of The Crying of Lot 49, which
	focuses on the heroine, Oedipa Mass, as she strives to uncover
	the secrets behind the death of her recently deceased ex-
	boyfriend after being named the executor of his will. Set against
	the backdrop of Hollywood, Oedipa follows several dead-end
	paths to unfold not only the mystery of her ex-lover's death, but
	to uncover the the depths of her inner soul. Pynchon
	demonstrates that lost causes are the only kind worth fighting
	for in this novel, because they lead to self-discovery, even if that
	discovery is only the realization of all that we don't know and
	understand. As Oedipa becomes more entwined in the lies and
	the hope of discovering truth becomes more vague, she strives
	even more to uncover it. There's something terribly heroic about
	a person who continues searching for truth despite the
	realization that such a quest is a lost cause. She searches not
	simply to find answers, but to find questions and to realize that
	her quest is about the journey and not her destination. This
	novel is ultimately about a modernist heroine striving to find her
	place in a postmodern world. . .

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