CoL49 - Abyss

[J K Van Nort]

With the repeated use of abyss and annihilation, Oedipa confronts an existence that can't be explained by what she has accepted up until now. She feels that she stands on the rim of an abyss that has swallowed the men in her life (annihilation). This sense of dread and looking deep into the void represents the realization that any system of understanding, any belief was based on ideas and ether, not substance. The realization that the belief wasn't fact led her to the abyss, where she realizes she knows nothing; she exists in a world that can no longer be explained by her previous worldview, in this case patriarchy. She is left to realize nol only has that belief-system failed her, but there is likely no replacement, except what she creates herself. Nothing from outside herself can truly replace the comfort of assurance, and she is left to face the void alone.

The men, some of whom were seen as prince's to rescue her from the Tower, have not been able to do so. They have failed, as has her dream that she could simply be part of patriarchy as a loving wife and mother, as she sees in Grace Bortz.

In solidarity,
James

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