mic check goes Presidential

[Michael Bailey]

well...one might say that Oedipa's disenchantment with Inverarity
began around the time they talked with that anarchist dude.

And shortly thereafter she like found that he came up short.  And it
was a fling and she moved on but he kept goofing around with her

so, in some earnest sci-fi novel, or Ayn Rand (signs all over town
"who is Pierce Inverarity", cigarettes with "PI" in gold lettering on
the filter, the 3rd Kazoo Concerto of Vivaldi that symbolizes freedom,
eg, et al, usw) this mystery-dude's organization would be all
desirable and stuff.
and the big thing would be "hot dang, she getz ta be in the Inner
Circle" or something...

but not here...

...as she goes looking around and finding all sorts of connections
till her mind boggles, she sees this hearing-impaired gala.

Now, what I am asking you (lit-crit-wise, not poly-sci-wise
(sic)(cherished misspelling)) is this:

Is the hearing-impaired gala -
a) related somehow to the Trystero (they all have these ear-trumpets...)
b) related to some counterforce and held up as a desirable example in
league with the anarchist and the old letters and so forth and the
people living up the phone poles?
d) a 3rd phenomenon entirely - people neither with nor against the
conspiracy, but fully involved with an affinity group that has
friendly or at least neutral relations with both Trystero and the
anarchists?

 that is to say, the text claims it as an anarchist miracle, but one
wonders if there aren't some HIG bylaws...

ok, just being nit-picky on that point.

But although Oedipa is totally frustrated by the overload of Trystero
coincidences -
and I think the reader is definitely supposed to think about all those
other folk

still - who does she go to bed with?  Inverarity and Metzger.
what does she do at the end? go to the auction, more or less insuring
further entwinement AND the presence of Cohen, whom she thinks is
cute.  but is for goldwater, the evil genius who brought reagan to
prominence...(flee him, shun him, Oedipa!)

Maybe her exposure to the anarchists and the dispossessed gives her
the perspective to go on with the quest -- to find out more about this
Inverarity, this purveyor of bone dust, this spinner of corporations,
this mimer-over-the-phone (he do the police in different voices)...

anyway - in summing up --
a) as in the Odyssey, what do we have:
 - the right-anarchist (and mercantilist) Inverarity even then
courting the Republicans
 - the right-wing nutballs (the guy that owns the surplus store)
- the techie nutballs (what's-is-name @ Yoyodyne
- the bowtie Daddies dozing at the board meeting and sexually
harassing her even in their sleep
- the aged, aged man in the nursing home
- the disabled (represented by the HIG)
- the academic and artistic communities
- young rockers
- stamp collectors
- the dispossessed

like the Odyssey, this is sort of a census of society...
and what I think is that Oedipa like Goldilocks or Cinderella is
looking for a home or a husband or both

and that anarchist dude would probably love to draw her into his days
of rage and nights of passion...

which would have made for a much longer (and less mysterious) novel

but at least she's kept her eyes open and seen these things in
addition to the prepared "who is Pierce Inverarity" script...

and who knows, maybe the anarchist guy will be the mysterious other bidder!

but anyway,
as far as relating to OWS - I think the sentence that most suits my
attitude is from V. - "we all like to see young people get together"

(they need to clean up after themselves, though)