COL49 - Chap 1: Oedipa says no to drugs

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Oedipa gets another three-in-the-morning phone call from Dr. Hilarius, begging her to join his LSD trial.  Specifically, as #104.  Any significance to the number?

Robin's described Oedipa and Mucho as affluent Young Republicans.  Are we absolutely certain she would have been a Nixon supporter?  Lots of affluent Democratic housewives out there too.  Anyway, here's the scenario:  bored, affluent, Californian, intelligent, at least quasi-hip young housewife is recruited for an LSD trial back in the mid '60s.  Does she say yes?  Of course she does.  So why does Oedipa say no?

Hilarius' project is called The Bridge, die Brucke, the bridge inward.  We've gotten some inkling of how Pynchon feels about drug-wielding doctors and dentists (as opposed to drug-wielding hedonistic non-professionals).  Dr. Hilarius sounds like Pierce's comical rendering of a Gestapo officer, which doesn't exactly quell the paranoia.  Oedipa's looking outward.  We'll see at the end of the chapter how the paintings of Remedios Varo, particularly the depiction of women confined to a tower, make her cry.
Oedipa wants OUT.  Hilarius wants IN.  No wonder she says no.  Had it been some hedonistic offering at a party, or by Metzger in the motel room, she might well have said yes.  It's the invasion she doesn't like.  Hilarius is part of THEM.

Laura