Crying of Lot 49 as a Parody of Midcentury America

Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 can be understood as a parody of Mid-Century American culture. Pynchon parodies contemporary reality by exaggerating the more unusual aspects of reality until it becomes a grotesque caricature. The novel parodies many elements of the 1960s, including conspiracy, radical movements, suburbia, sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll.

The underground radical movements of the 1960s are parodied in the Trystero conspiracy, an underground postal network run in opposition to both public and private postal services. The level of effort required to create an underground postal network is analogous to the level of effort used by many real conspiracies, with far more impactful goals. Creating an underground postal network is pointless when the United States Postal Service already exists. Of course, there are plenty of understandable reasons to want to send information through an alternative system. However, real conspiracy has incorporated communications into their plan, and there has not been a need for a conspiracy devoted exclusively to communications. The effort expended in the maintenance of Trystero is similar to the pointless struggles in Romeo and Juliet, a great deal of violence and exertion only to maintain a centuries-old feud. This parallel is referenced in the play within a book, The Courier’s Tragedy (Pynchon 49).

A far-right figure, Mark Fallopian, edges closer to the satire of right wing conspiracy theories. He explains to Oedipa and Metzger the background of the Peter Pinguid Society, which is devoted to preserving the heritage of a Confederate naval officer who landed on the California Coast. The name Mike Fallopian suggests one who is lacking manhood; Pynchon uses this to indicate that male inferiority encourages participation in a far right conspiracy group. Freud argued that castration anxiety results in a fear that one could not have domination over something. Mike Fallopian experiences this castration anxiety regarding the “truth” of the civil war, as do many conspiracy theorists before and after him. Specifically, he fears that he might not have control over the Peter Pinguid story, the “truth” of the Civil War. The name Peter Pinguid can be directly interpreted as “greasy phallus,” which evokes similar Freudian imagery, although perhaps as a remedy for the sort of sexual dysfunction Mike Fallopian is suffering from (Pynchon 35-37).

In contrast to the Radical movements, Lot 49 also parodies the vapidness of midcentury suburbia. The majority of the novel takes place in the fictional California town of San Narciso, a parody of California City, California. Modern-day California City is a vast empty field, crisscrossed with the winding streets and cul-de-sacs archetypal of the postwar American suburb, but never built. San Narciso could be a parody of post-war Californian suburbia; however, the single owner, the position north of LA, and the time its construction started, circa 1955, all point to California City. San Narciso is described in a similar manner, albeit much more successful. “San Narciso” translates to Saint Narcissus, which Pynchon uses to highlight the highly self-centered behavior exhibited by characters in the city. San Narciso also sounds like a portmanteau of “San Francisco” and “Narcotics”. Abuse of barbiturate drugs was prevalent in the 1950s and 60s, and the barbiturate abusing housewife is an essential part of modern perceptions of postwar culture.

Oedipa’s recollection of a Tupperware Party is mentioned, indicating a certain kind of consumerist “hyperbolically banalized world” (Grant 5). This is Pynchon arguing mindless consumerism results in a world devoid of meaning. He then contrasts this with the intrigue of the Trystero conspiracy, in a way arguing that a vapid world results in a need to become part of something larger, such as a pointless conspiracy.

The story of the suicidal businessman told by the Immorati Anonymous man in the gay bar indicates Pynchon’s feeling the life of an engineer was a pointless rat race. Pynchon worked at Boeing while writing his first novel, V., and incorporated his experiences into his subsequent work. Yoyodyne exists in both V. and Lot 49 as a parody of the military industrial complex and defense contractors (Grant 38, 80). The supreme irony of that anecdote is the businessman, after being fired, is told that the computer he was replaced with would have decided to commit suicide in twelve microseconds, rather than three weeks. As with everything else in the novel, it connects back to the Trystero conspiracy, as the businessman founded Immorati Anonymous using the postal system that he discovered while receiving letters from other failed suicides.

The British Invasion was referenced heavily in Lot 49. Mucho Mass is heard whistling the tune to “I Want to Kiss Your Feet” by Sick Dick and the Volkswagens, an English band. (Pynchon 13) The title of the song is likely a parody of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles. Kissing feet is more vulgar than holding hands, demonstrating parody via hyperbole. A popular song about foot fetishism is an extreme parody of the sexual revolution. Sick Dick and the Volkswagens as a band name references a typical pattern in band names from the Big Band era onward, with the mention of Volkswagens referring to the young person’s vehicle of choice in the 60s. The Paranoids are another reference to the British Invasion, American teenagers encouraged by their manager to sing in British accents, and wear “Beatle Haircuts” (Pynchon 16-17). Their outward appearance is a facade, and only exists to sell records, furthering images of mindless consumerism.

The music selected by Pynchon parodies the music of the 60s by hyperbolizing styles and mannerisms. His selections may be referencing the Monkees, especially as they served as a suburban sitcom to a suburban world.

The Paranoids are also a representative of the sexual revolution (Pynchon 13). After encountering Oedipa and Metzger in the bathroom, The Paranoids begin following the couple voyeuristically. They also sing a song referencing Nabokov’s Lolita, in which they argue that beautiful young girls are being taken by older men. The song is specifically a reference to Metzger, Peirce’s lawyer, taking Serge’s, the Paranoid’s counter-tenor, girlfriend (Pynchon 121).

“What chance has a lonely surfer boy

For the love of a surfer chick,

With all these Humbert Humbert cats

Coming on so big and sick?

For me, my baby was a woman,

For him she's just another nymphet.” (Pynchon 120)

Lolita was also referenced by Mucho Maas’ description of the young women calling into the radio station, who were, “These little chicks call in with requests, naked lust, to Funch’s ear, throbs in every word I say” (Pynchon 6).

The psychedelic research of the 1960s is parodied in the experiments of Dr. Hilarius. When Hilarius was a Medical Intern at Buchenwald (Pynchon 111), he attempted to medically induce insanity in Jewish prisoners (112). This was seen as a more humane method than execution by some oxymoronic “liberal SS Circles”. This failed, but he has continued his research by dosing suburban housewives with LSD. He appears to have succeeded in inducing insanity, “Too many nutty broads, that’s what did it. Kinneret is full of nothing but. [Hilarius] couldn’t cope. (109)” Pynchon may also be parodying rampant tranquilizer use among suburban housewives in the 1960s, with a much more exotic substance.

Overall, Pynchon presents a detailed parody of midcentury America in The Crying of Lot 49. From right wing conspiracy theories to the sexual revolution, Lot 49 mocks all apsects of the 1960s. Some might argue that his motivation was criticism or satire, but I believe that he simply wished to parody contemporary culture for the sake of parodying contemporary culture. Pynchon’s mastery of the parody has inspired imitation in many subsequent novels, including Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, the quintessential cyberpunk novel.