The Crying of Lot 49

In Chapter 4 of The Crying of Lot 49, Oedipa learns of John Nefastis. Stanley tells her of Nefastis’s machine, which breaks the laws of thermodynamics but can only be operated by so-called “sensitives.” Though she once believed she might be one of these sensitives, and believes so in this chapter, Oedipa later cannot make the machine work. She does not possess the particular power needed to use the machine. In a subtle way, this failure forces her to confront her self-image. She believes herself to be special, to be someone sensitive enough to defy the laws of physics. When she is revealed as a non-sensitive, however, Oedipa's initial reaction is to question the viability of Nefastis's machine. She wonders whether it is all an elaborate joke. She would prefer being tricked by Nefastis to being forced to alter her self-image. Oedipa believes her identity has a larger meaning, but it is simply as commonplace as the arbitrary narratives that make her think her individual self has meaning. This suggests ontological issues are the same as epistemological issues and vice versa. Oedipa cannot find meaning, uniqueness, behind the Conspiracies and Pattern Recognition and Interpretation, and she cannot find meaning for herself. The machine might simply be an elaborate joke as well. Her pursuit to remedy 1960s Alienation and Aimlessness simply leads to further aimlessness.

The discussion around Nefastis is central to this chapter. This nagging suggestion of unreliability in Nefastis is reinforced later when he propositions Oedipa for sex as well. She runs out of his house, screaming. Nefastis may claim to be able to create a perpetual-motion machine that breaks universal rules, but, ultimately, he is driven by the same basic sexual urges as most other heterosexual men. This suggests that at the heart of these arbitrary pursuits of meaning (here, scientific inventions), there are simply Oppressive Traumas and Patriarchal Constructs. Oedipa is disgusted not only by the proposition but also by the implication of the proposition. Nefastis's machine is advanced enough to be equivalent to magic, but he is uninterested in changing the world. Nefastis only wants to satisfy his physical urges, thereby squandering the machine’s potential. Oedipa runs from his house, terrified not only by his forward nature but by his alienated disinterest in his own work. Of course, the work itself might be a hoax, a ploy to get women to sleep with him. The conspiracies and pattern recognition and interpretation simply lead to oppressive traumas and patriarchal constructs.

Oedipa talks to Genghis Cohen about Pierce's stamp collection. To Oedipa, the collection is an attempt to create "an organized something" (60). While he could not create order from the chaos of reality, she theorizes, Pierce might have felt comforted by the rigid order in which he placed his valuable stamps. Pierce's diffuse interests and hobbies, from stamp collecting to the stock market, all speak to a desire to unify. Like the conspiracy that Oedipa uncovers, the seemingly disconnected world is, in reality, woven together by unseen threads. Pierce is one of these connection points, leading Oedipa to see him like Maxwell's Demon. He defies the laws of physics to separate slow molecules from fast molecules. He brings together stamps and Yoyodyne stocks, unifying the chaotic world through financial strength. At the heart of the arbitrary conspiracies and pattern recognition, however, is Pierce and his capitalism—oppressive traumas and patriarchal constructs, in other words. Genghis Khan previously tyrannized the world, organizing it around his patriarchy, and now, in the 20th century, his modern equivalent, Genghis Cohen, orders everything through a patriarchal capitalism. Oedipa talks to Genghis about the stamps but leaves feeling unsatisfied. Like so much in Pierce's estate, each uncovering of a new secret only leads to more secrets. This is the particular variety of malaise experienced in the modern world, of 1960s alienation and aimlessness.

The Tristero conspiracy is revealed to Oedipa as a conspiracy concerning mail delivery. The benign nature of the conspiracy is important, as it compels Oedipa to wrestle with the hidden nature of truth in her society. For her entire life, Oedipa has viewed the US Postal Service as an ever-present, reliable institution. She has never had any reason to suspect that the mail is dishonest in any way. As she learns about the flow of information, however, she comes to realize that there is an inherent power in controlling how a message reaches its destination. Between Thoth's signet ring and Pierce's stamp collection, however, a preoccupation with the power of the postal service is clear. By learning to question an institution like the postal service, Oedipa learns to question everything else. Thoth’s grandfather worked for the Pony Express and murdered Indigenous Americans as he did so, the Postal Service being one more of the oppressive traumas and patriarchal constructs. Society is organized around such institutions, around the many layers of conspiracies and pattern recognition and interpretation.