In Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, standard hierarchical structures are abandoned in a context of postmodern cultural chaos. The use of fragmented pop culture contributes to many aspects of the book, namely the combined sense of freedom in the search for meaning. Furthermore, this strange tangle of references and images comments on the setting of the novel. California itself is famous for its blatant and excessive modernity, often a step ahead in popular culture. But from this advantage comes the tendency towards meaninglessness, towards lack of depth. Fragmentation illustrates this superficial sensibility by developing countless details, even humorous ones, without central force or purpose. Lacking a unifying meaning, these fragments overwhelm something identifiable in any aspect of contemporary life, in any region. They distract both the protagonist and the reader from any point. But this very ambiguity is the point. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Pynchon maintains a distinctly modern concern in his chaotic embellishments. In the tradition of Eliot and Joyce, he rebels against any imposed structure. (Fisher, in lecture, 4/24/00) With no hierarchy governing the direction of the narrative, there is a renewed sense of freedom. This is evidenced by Oedipa's lack of connections or responsibilities. She can just leave her husband, wander all over California, and come back whenever she wants. But freedom can also create an excessive lack of order, a negative state of chaos without justification. Oedipa wants to believe, as she does at the beginning, that "...everything fit, logically, together. As if...there was a revelation going on around her." (30) The flaw in this apparently innocent freedom lies in the sacrifice of reason. This becomes clear when Oedipa begins to seek order as much as fun and liberation. It no longer comes simply as a revelation, but guides his action. She becomes an agent searching for meaning when she goes to The Scope, a local bar "because it seemed like a pattern was beginning to emerge...." (71) Perhaps Oedipa can't help her "growing obsession with 'bringing something itself' '...to the dispersion of the commercial interests that survived Inverarity would have given them order, would have created constellations." (72) Surrounded by chaos, she recognizes the need for this strength and assumes she can restore logic, and therefore meaning. The desire to create a connection between scattered information is foreign to the world in which Oedipa operates, and therefore quite difficult. The first sign of trouble might be that “Much of the revelation would come through [a] stamp collection… thousands of little colored windows into deep vistas of space and time: savannahs teeming with antelope and gazelles, galleons sailing westward in the void, Hitler's heads, sunsets, cedars of Lebanon, allegorical faces that never existed..." (30) This agglomeration of useless and antiquated images is a perfect metaphor for the fragmentation of pop culture in California's strange postmodernity. It's a fitting illustration of the stage on which our protagonist attempts to find the conspiracy. With image after detailed image accumulating into a strangely poetic list, these images overwhelm the reader. But once the rapture of its possible meaning has been overcome, one cannot help but wonder, as Oedipa does "...if, at the end of all this (if it were to end), she too might not be left only with compiled memories of clues, announcements, hints, but never the central truth itself, which insomehow it must always be too vivid for her memory to retain." (76) This is essentially the question posed by the ambush of pop culture. The story moves forward only thanks to Oedipa's deep desire to find something unifying in the large amount of information that he absorbs every day. The concept of sensory overload, of too much information, is a decidedly modern idea. Industry and technology move too fast, inspiring a transitory culture without any anchoring idea, as in the case of "radios that play songs in the lower reaches of the Top 200, which would never become popular, whose melodies and lyrics would perish as if they had never been sung." it is necessary to project one's desires onto the cultural landscape, creating a connection that makes one's world seem less intimidating and temporary. Oedipa does this with her idea of ​​conspiracy. One night, he wanders through the city, the quintessential modern landscape, with the hope that "every clue that comes should have its clarity, its good chance of permanence." (95) Separately, the range of “clues” he encounters are lush vignettes of modern life. There is "a wandering, dreaming cloud of thugs in summer jackets with post horns sewn onto them with thread that looked like pure silver" (98) and "an exhausted bus full of niggers working the night shift all over town , ...scratched on the back of a seat, shining for her in the bright and smoky interior, the post horn." (98) The language of these passages makes very clear distinctions. The fragments of reality of the criminals, the sad condition of the blacks are squalid compared to the symbol that stands out so brilliantly within them. In the face of so much frustration, Pynchon creates a real visual connection that Oedipa can hold on to. The deep and subliminal need to connect familiar fragments together betrays much about the effect of constant fragmentation on the human soul. Oedipa begins to search for human connection in all her desire for order. His loneliness is the result of his environment, as well as his constant need to mitigate it. The postmodern state creates lives like the ones Oedipa sees that night. The similarity between these observations is the absolute loneliness and sadness in the language. This is hardly a unifying connection. How can he help but seek control, and above all security, in a world that creates the "old night watchman, who munches on a bar of ivory soap, who has trained his virtuous stomach to accept even lotions, air fresheners, fabrics, tobaccos?" and grows in a desperate attempt to absorb it all, all the promise, the productivity, the betrayal, the ulcers, before it's too late?" (100) Sacrifices in "democratizing language" (Fisher, in a lecture, 24/4 /00) through fragmentation are not worth this barrage. Oedipa becomes more alone than freed from her freedom of association. Oedipa's need for deep human connection is a symptom of her growing isolation research In her first meeting with Metzger, she has confidence and even playfulness in her sexuality Even the agreement to sleep with him comes in a moment of distraction: "'What do you want to bet, then' She knew it. . Stubborn, they looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like five minutes. She heard the commercials chasing each other." in and out of the TV speaker. She was getting angrier, maybe excited, maybe just impatient for the movie to come back. "Well then... it's a bet." (23) She clearly cares of this decision, as one of his few moments of emotion comes when he asks what Inverarity said to.