Absolute Chaos

The element of chaos in Pynchon’s novel The Crying of Lot 49 is present throughout the novel and accents the elements of mystery and satire. Chaos is what keeps the reader from not being able to penetrate the “surface” of the novel, leaving the reader with a sense of ambiguity. Pynchon creates chaos in the events of the novel by overlapping a number of different events in one scene. The various events all take place at the same time. Pynchon’s bounces back and forth in the description of these events which can be quite confusing and frustrating. Yet, the secret to reading the novel is not to look too hard into any particular idea. What the author wants you to know will be revealed to you in time.
One instance of the chaos that resurfaces throughout the novel can be reflected in the event of Oedipa’s infidelity with Metzger. After a few drinks both Oedipa and Metzger find that they are able to unwind a little and they become very close with each other. During their game of “Strip Botticelli” Oedipa and Metzger through the progressive removal of their clothes. To parallel the continual removal of clothes is their increasing consumption of alcohol. Everyone knows that in any circumstance in which alcohol is involved a lot of irrational things can happen. Alcohol has a way of disrupting the mind and bringing chaos into a situation. The consumption of a large amount of alcohol is exactly what happens to lead Oedipa into committing adultery with Metzger. To create the effect of chaos Pynchon connects the elements of alcohol, the noise from the T.V., and the addition of the guitar players in the hallway to add to the numerous things that are already taking place. The reader must keep in mind that there is a movie going on in the background. This fact is easy to lose in the midst of all the other events that take place because it is actually the movie that begins the game in the first place. That is Pynchon’s strategy: to begin with one simple idea and continually add other elements to the idea that complicate the situation at hand. During the movie, Oedipa and Metzger not only make a bet, but when she enters the bathroom to put on more layers of clothing she knocks down a can of hair spray. This unleashes a number of events: Metzger runs into the bathroom to find out what is going on, the Paranoids and their girlfriends storm into the room, and the mirror shatters in the bathroom. This event leads the Paranoids playing music outside the room, but also escalates the sexual tension between Oedipa and Metzger.
Imagine the chaos of watching a movie while playing a “guessing game,” stripping off items of clothing, consuming alcohol, and the noise from loud electric guitars in the hallway. In any case one would imagine that this would drive anyone crazy and it kind of does just that. Pynchon describes how “things grew less and less clear” (29). It even leads Oedipa to develop a headache which “began to flower behind her eyes… progressing to the point where Oedipa falls into “a moment of nearly pure terror” (29). I could imagine how an event which began with flirting and a slight attraction could develop into a horrifying scene when you have consumed so much alcohol and have experienced so much within a period of time that you actually feel that you have lost control of the situation. It is losing control that truly perpetuates the chaos in this scene.