A racist post
I am unsure if this is the last blog post or not, but I have decided to relate this back to "the mystery in the story anyways. To me, a mystery is simply that which remains to be understood. One mystery in The Crying of Lot 49 (among many) is Pynchon's purpose for being so explicitly depraved in his book. The host of moral corruption, allusions, offenses and subplots that pervaded this book was amazing. Here I will delve into one aspect of the Pynchon's mystery of depravity. I will address one of the many depravities that this book has: racism.
Today, I am addressing the unabashed racist sentiments expressed at a specific point in this book. Near the start of Chapter 6, a bit after Serge’s pedophilic rant, the reader encounters Winthrop Tremaine. Winthrop Tremaine sells swastika armbands, and has a “little factory down outside of San Diego… with a dozen of your n*ggers” (Pynchon Chapter 6) Winthrop abbreviates his name “Winner,” (Pynchon 6) and puts his ads in pornographic magazines. The term “your” (Pynchon Chapter 6) in the previous quote seems to be directed at the reader. The use of 2nd person here posits for Pynchon attempting to make a statement on American politics and racial climate. Perhaps Pynchon wants to state that despite knowledge of the despicable racist sentiment within the US, the populace does nothing, and so they are at fault. This idea is portrayed by Oedipa, who felt morally obligated to injure this objectively bad Neo-nazi racist man, to “hit him with any of a dozen… heavy, blunt objects,” (Pynchon 6) and yet does nothing. Pynchon continues having Oedipa think to herself that “this is America, you live in it, you let it happen.” (Pynchon 6) Again, the choice to use 2nd person here demonstrates that Pynchon wants this to be directed at readers. Pynchon wants to state that people can see and here things they know are wrong but still go on living their daily lives. People (you know those who have a conscience) agree that Nazis are not good people. Oedipa, who objectively speaking is not a super great person (as she thinks about flipping off a disabled person and is fairly promiscuous) understands that this Winthrop character is a bad man, which stands in contrast to other equally despicable things in the book which she treats as commonplace; this sudden influx of morality which at all other places in the book is absent (even with Mrs. Bortz infanticide statements) can be seen as evidence in the case for a statement on racism in America. Evidently, racism is evil enough that everyone can recognize that it’s wrong, nevertheless, people still do not take action to counteract it (at least in the 60’s).
My other reading on the lethargic treatment of sex, racism, pedophilia, infanticide, and rape is that Pynchon means to state that life is meaningless. That sex, which is considered to be the zenith (I wasn’t going to say climax) of physical pleasure is treated as useless and commonplace posits for the futility of life. Also, that all the evil taking place in the book is seen as normal works as a statement that morality itself is a construct of society, and thus in a nihilistic sense is worthless. I know I didn’t defend that but that’s my other idea.
Today, I am addressing the unabashed racist sentiments expressed at a specific point in this book. Near the start of Chapter 6, a bit after Serge’s pedophilic rant, the reader encounters Winthrop Tremaine. Winthrop Tremaine sells swastika armbands, and has a “little factory down outside of San Diego… with a dozen of your n*ggers” (Pynchon Chapter 6) Winthrop abbreviates his name “Winner,” (Pynchon 6) and puts his ads in pornographic magazines. The term “your” (Pynchon Chapter 6) in the previous quote seems to be directed at the reader. The use of 2nd person here posits for Pynchon attempting to make a statement on American politics and racial climate. Perhaps Pynchon wants to state that despite knowledge of the despicable racist sentiment within the US, the populace does nothing, and so they are at fault. This idea is portrayed by Oedipa, who felt morally obligated to injure this objectively bad Neo-nazi racist man, to “hit him with any of a dozen… heavy, blunt objects,” (Pynchon 6) and yet does nothing. Pynchon continues having Oedipa think to herself that “this is America, you live in it, you let it happen.” (Pynchon 6) Again, the choice to use 2nd person here demonstrates that Pynchon wants this to be directed at readers. Pynchon wants to state that people can see and here things they know are wrong but still go on living their daily lives. People (you know those who have a conscience) agree that Nazis are not good people. Oedipa, who objectively speaking is not a super great person (as she thinks about flipping off a disabled person and is fairly promiscuous) understands that this Winthrop character is a bad man, which stands in contrast to other equally despicable things in the book which she treats as commonplace; this sudden influx of morality which at all other places in the book is absent (even with Mrs. Bortz infanticide statements) can be seen as evidence in the case for a statement on racism in America. Evidently, racism is evil enough that everyone can recognize that it’s wrong, nevertheless, people still do not take action to counteract it (at least in the 60’s).
My other reading on the lethargic treatment of sex, racism, pedophilia, infanticide, and rape is that Pynchon means to state that life is meaningless. That sex, which is considered to be the zenith (I wasn’t going to say climax) of physical pleasure is treated as useless and commonplace posits for the futility of life. Also, that all the evil taking place in the book is seen as normal works as a statement that morality itself is a construct of society, and thus in a nihilistic sense is worthless. I know I didn’t defend that but that’s my other idea.
I really like your post because I had not put much thought into the topic of racism in this book. I appreciate how your blog post ties in historical context because I would assume that Pynchon was surrounded by conversations regarding racism around the time his book came out. I also wonder if this can tie in to the topic of communication. You mentioned how people may hear something racist but not say anything. Pynchon seems to bring up communication over and over in the book, so I wonder if he may be saying something about communication and racism in this segment of the book.
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