CoL49 group reading ch6 part 1 - (3) skimming lightly

[Michael Bailey]

“First thing after unpacking she was on the horn to Randolph Driblette”

- on the horn - subtly tying this phone call to “the horn”


Next calling Bortz, “…a wife named Grace answered, backed by a group of
children.”

“backed by a group of children”
- quietly suggests a phone call as a kind of performance

Is this a subtle comparison to the Paranoids? More of a contrast, I guess:
these kids are in the age group among which Serge’s ostensibly seeking a
rebound chick. They don’t seem likely prospects, thank goodness!



“Oedipa showered, put on a sweater, skirt and sneakers, wrapped her hair in
a student like twist, went easy on the makeup. Recognizing with a vague
sense of dread that it was not a matter of Bortz’s response, or Grace’s,
but of The Trystero’s.”

So now she’s dressing to impress The Trystero.



After leaving Winthrop Tremaine to gloat among his hoard of horrible
costumery,

“She drove savagely along the freeway, hunting for Volkswagens.”

Why Volkswagens? The Hitler connection? What does she plan to do with them?
Or to them?