Guarding Our Backs From Humanity's Vices: The Crying of Lot 49, Chapter Two

As the French Enlightenment philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau expressed in his book The Social Contract, the development of civilization corrupted people’s natural goodness. According to this theory, the passage of time and the development of technology lead mankind to slowly degenerate into a state of corruption and vice. The XXIst century brought forth a vast amount of changes meant to improve the lifestyles of people around the world; however, these have only made individuals more untrustworthy of each other and more prone to commit fraudulent actions. Oedipa Maas’ relationship with Metzger is also based on this unreliability and lack of confidence: “Either he made up the whole thing, Oedipa thought suddenly, or he bribed the engineer over at the local station to run this, it’s all part of a plot, and elaborate, seduction, plot. O Metzger.” (p. 20). Oedipa cannot believe that Metzger’s, or Baby Igor’s, appearance on the movie was a mere coincidence, but rather the deliberate product of a plan. It is sad to think that, amidst all the improvements that have been made to make our existences easier and longer, we still live our lives alert of what others may be thinking or doing. We no longer have to guard our backs from savage beasts or natural disasters, but from humanity’s vices.

It is amazing to see how different contexts can alter the meaning of a group of words. According to The Crying of Lot 49, “A lawyer in a courtroom, in front of a jury, becomes an actor, right? Raymond Burr is an actor, impersonating a lawyer, who in front of a jury becomes an actor.” (p. 21-22). This would seem similar to what Epictetus said in his Handbook: “Remember that you are an actor in a play, which is as the playwright wants it to be. If he wants you to be a beggar, play even this part skillfully, or a cripple, or a public official, or a private citizen. What is yours is to play the assigned part well.” (section 17). However, the different contexts in which these two expressions take place make their meanings become totally different, even though they cohere when read as independent sentences. The Handbook of Epictetus is developed in a context where a superior force, such as the universe, is in charge of every event that takes place in the world. This superior force, then, controls our individual fates and is the one responsible for assigning the parts we should play in life. The Crying of Lot 49 mentions no god or force in charge of controlling destiny; moreover, the satirical tone of the novel makes Metzger’s words lose a profound significance. Our roles as actors do not seem metaphysical or intertwined between the presence of an all-powerful god, but mixed within the corruption and vice we have seen in the book thus far in Oedipa’s lack of confidence in Metzger and others. “It’s all part of a plot, an elaborate, seduction, plot.” (p. 20).

Like Billy Pilgrim so often mentioned in Slaughterhouse-Five, each independent event in life is already written. The Tralfamadorians used the concept of the fourth dimension in order to be able to travel from event to event, comparing this ability to the panoramic view one had of a landscape. Mankind, who lives in the third dimension, is obliged to live each particular moment one at a time, not able to see beyond the limits time imposes on him. The third dimension restraints his point of view about life. Instead of a desert where no boundaries are present, humans see life as a movie, where one event chronologically follows the other. “‘You want to bet on what’ll happen?’ ‘Of course not,’ said Oedipa, ‘the movie’s made.’” (p. 22). Human life is predestined, there is nothing else we can do but sit back and enjoy the show.

Vocabulary:

Plinth: a heavy base supporting a statue or vase.

Escrow: a bond, deed, or other document kept in the custody of a third party.

Deference: humble submission and respect.

Zither: a musical instrument with strings.