A Trip Of Conjuration - A Study Of The Crying Of Lot 49 From The Perspective Of Hauntology

Thomas Pynchon is one of the most important literary figures in contemporary American fiction. His works are famous for obscurity, complexity, and labyrinthine encyclopedical knowledge. Being his second novel, The Crying of Lot 49 tells the story of Oedipa who drives to San Narciso to execute the will of her ex-boyfriend Pierce Inverarity, a Californian real estate mogul, and thus begins her wonderful journey. The trip, generally, is regarded as a trip in pursuit of the final truth and meaning. Compared with the traditional pursuit, there is no final meaning in Pynchon’s writing and Pynchon’s pursuer is different from the traditional one. However, in this thesis, the trips, both geographical and mental, are considered as trips of conjuration, from the perspective of Hauntology.This thesis contains five chapters:Chapters one and two and three are, respectively, a brief introduction to Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 and literature review on The Crying of Lot 49 and Derrida’s theory of Hauntlogy which will be used in this thesis.Chapter four is divided into two parts: the specters which haunting everyone in The Crying of Lot 49 are discussed in the first part; the process of conjuration and why they fail are discussed in the second part. Science and technology is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can bring great progress and wealth; on the other hand, it haunts people endlessly in post-industrial age. First, Crying begins with Oedipa to execute Pierce Inverarity’s will and Pierce Inverarity’s industry is a microcosm of American society. Mourning makes the dead present. The dead is Pierce Inverarity who represents America. The inheritances and the remains of the dead also make the specter haunting. The specter sees us before we see it, and we feel ourselves observed. The specter is neither present nor absent. Second, mourning always follows a trauma, which is a kind of specter. Third, the spectrality of language is obvious as well. It is unavailing to find the final truth or meaning through words and language. The spectrality of language determines that one can only find its absent presence—signs(clues). In order to drive away the specters, an alliance must be constituted by all means to accomplish the conjuration.Chapter five is the conclusion. Based on the above analysis, the thesis draws a conclusion that all the actions of conjuration fail in that one specter gets expelled, another one appears. The only solution is to learn to live with specter. In conclusion, what haunts people is not one specific specter, but the whole America which is out of joint.