The Postmodern Truth In The Crying Of Lot49

Thomas Pynchon is one of the most prominent postmodern writers in America and hehas published an influential series of novels. In the postmodern society, the truth isindeterminate. Pynchon gives us new insight of expounding truth. The Crying of Lot49whichrepresents truth of American history in the middle and later periods of the20century isPynchon’s effort to accomplish his comprehension of truth on writing.The novel The Crying of Lot49mainly represents American social bizarre panorama andmakes readers be in uncertainty. The thesis aims to probe the postmodern truth in The Cryingof Lot49. The thesis, based on close reading, combining social background, intends to exploreindeterminate truth in postmodern society. Reader-oriented theory is employed in this thesis toanalyze true meaning in the indeterminacy. Firstly, thesis analyzes Oedipa’s process ofseeking truth and her findings. In the entropic society, Oedipa is confused by a mass ofinformation and cannot discover the meaning of Pierce’s legacy, but the process of quest isvery important for her. In the society of shackles of communication, she discovers truecommunication without obstacles, which exists in the marginalized society. When reading TheCrying of Lot49, readers seem to be brought into a complicated society intertwined with truthand fiction. The indeterminate truth arouses readers’ active participation. With readers’process of seeking truth and filling the blanks and indeterminacy, readers will find truemeaning in the indeterminacy in the novel. At last, Pynchon’ interpretation of truth isanalyzed. Based on Wayne Booth’s theory of rhetoric, with the aid of the process of theimplied author’s interpretation to truth, the author’s representation of true aspect of Americansociety is analyzed by combination of real author and implied author. The conflict betweenthe marginalized groups and mainstream society is revealed and diversified “other” voice canbe represented.In The Crying of Lot49, Pynchon tries to perform his understanding of truth in fictionwriting and provides readers with true American society. Pynchon arouses people to take theinitiative to seek true meaning and his effort to carry out his perception supplies us different methods of interpreting truth in novels.