Modern Man's Existence Predicament In The Entropic Society In The Crying Of Lot 49

Thomas Pynchon is one of the most remarkable postmodern writers in contemporary American Literature.His works are known for its bizarre ideas,encyclopedic narratives,mysterious plots,and philosophical metaphors,with many and diverse influences.The Crying of Lot 49,Pynchon's second novel,is the shortest of his novels which has a reputation of “short but brilliant”.It is about a young and educated woman,Oedipa Mass,who quests the secret of the mysterious organization,Tristero.Since publication,the novel has attracted wide attention from the critics and won the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1967.This novel was written in the 1960 s,one of the most politically and socially turbulent decades in American history.The decade saw the rise of the drug culture,the Vietnam War,the rock revolution.This was also the decade of John F.Kennedy's assassination,Martin Luther King's assassination,Civil Rights,and,to some extent,women's rights.The novel taps into this explosion of cultural occurrences,depicting a dramatically fragmented society.The Crying of Lot 49 contains a pervasive sense of cultural chaos;indeed,the novel draws on all areas of American culture and society.This thesiswill apply the law of entropy and use Fromm's relevant theories to explore the significance and unique value of The Crying of Lot 49 and reveal modern man's existence predicament in the entropic society.The first chapter is to analyze the characteristics of the postmodern entropic society in the text,such as fragmented subcultures,distorted transmission and invalid communication system,and the sick and chaotic American society.The second is to analyze the existence predicament encountered by the characters in the text,including the alienation and reification of human beings,the loneliness,and nothingness of people's spirit,the lack of true love,and the loss of individual identity.Then it is to analyze ways out of existence predicament given by Pynchon,such as the meaning of the Oedipa's quest,communication as the breach to the closed system.Then a conclusion can be drawn that Pynchon,with a humanistic concern,made a true statement on the status of American society,which reveals the modern man's existence predicament,highlights the harm of totalitarianism.Pynchon's reflection on history and criticism of society reveals his concerns for the reality and the ultimate destiny of human beings.