The Crying of Lot 49

Throughout The Crying of Lot 49, Oedipa repeatedly encounters a strange symbol that is important enough to be presented wholly in the text. The symbol has various meanings for the characters. Oedipa comes to learn that it is associated with the Tristero organization. They use the muted post horn to symbolize their opposition to the Thurn und Taxis organization, a rival mail-delivery network that features a post horn on its heraldry. The Tristero wish to silence their rivals, which they symbolically accomplish by muting the post horn. At the same time, the muted nature of the post horn symbolizes the clandestine nature of the way the Tristero operate. They remain in the shadows, operating a secretive alternative network of mail delivery that is free from government oversight and surveillance. The muted nature of the post horn symbolizes their desire to remain quiet. While their rivals loudly announce their presence with a blast on their post horn, they provide the same services in a silenced, muted manner.

Oedipa's investigation can be symbolized by her growing familiarity with the muted post horn as a symbol. She first sees the symbol etched on a bathroom stall "among lipsticked obscenities" (35). At first, this symbol has no meaning to her. Then she begins to notice it more regularly. It is found all over Pierce's stamp collection, then on a button on the lapel of a stranger, then written on the sides of buildings all over the Bay Area. Oedipa cannot un-see the symbol; she cannot forget what she has learned. To Oedipa, who learns about the existence of the Tristero relatively late in the novel, the muted post horn functions as a symbol of the investigation itself. The frequency with which she notices the symbol marks her progress. The more clues she uncovers, the more she sees the muted post horn. At the same time, however, the muted post horn becomes a reminder of the sinister nature of conspiracies in her world. As Oedipa begins to notice the muted post horn in familiar places, she is forced to reckon with the existence of unseen forces. The muted post horn, the Tristero, and everything associated with these broad, centuries-old conspiracies have always existed in her life; she has simply been unable to recognize them. Once she sees the muted post horn scattered across numerous cities, however, Oedipa is prompted to question just how many other conspiracies may be lurking beneath the surface of society, waiting for her to identify them. For Oedipa, the muted post horn becomes a symbol of just how little she knows about the way in which the world really works. It is at the root of her questioning perhaps the most innocuous institution within the US government; it emblematizes 1960s culture at large and its suspicions about everything institutional.

The inclusion of the muted post horn as a break in the prose of the novel also has a symbolism. While every other image, symbol, or item in the novel is described, the muted post horn is deemed important enough to be included in its entirety. The inclusion of the whole symbol is a reference to the idea of semiotics, in which a word cannot ever convey the truth of reality through its simple letters. In semiotics, a sign is anything that communicates meaning. A word is a sign, but one that contains a vast quantity of historical, cultural, and subjective meaning. The symbol of the muted post horn is a gesture toward semiotics; a sign is presented to the protagonist, who then must assemble a meaning for the particular symbol. The novel becomes an act of symbolic creation, an act of semiotic literary analysis in which Oedipa pieces together the symbolism of the muted post horn as part of her investigation. If she learns what the symbol means and is trying to convey, then, she hopes, she will discover a hidden truth about the world. The muted post horn is a sign, and the plot of the novel is the signified, the historical and cultural meaning that is implied by the presentation of the horn in its entirety.