Similarities

One of the recurring themes that I’ve noticed throughout the three novels we’ve read so far is the idea that these characters are at the center of the story’s “world.” I’m having a difficult time putting this into words, because naturally the main character is the center of every plot sequence… but what I mean is that they are not only the center of the plot, but also of the entire “world” around them. As in the depiction of W.A.S.T.E being this huge, underground thing that practically all of California (and the rest of the country?) was in on. Little Oedipa was running around, attempting to unearth the entire secret society that everyone seemed to know about but her. She was actively molding and shaping something that in a larger sense, was very, very big.

And then Orr being at the center of his “world”-changing phenomenon. He was actively manipulating the entire world’s sense of reality. This is very obvious to see how he was the center of not only the plot, but of the fictional “world.”

Now we have these elevator inspectors that seem to be a very serious and important facet in the city. So much so that the mob and the media are involved (the head of the department’s photograph plastered on city billboards?) Lila Mae is, once again, at the center of something that could potentially alter everyone’s lives with the “black box.” Her actions, her discoveries, her involvement, are all key to the development of the story, which therefore are key to the altering of this huge reality around her.

If you think about it, in each of these stories, the alternate, fictional reality revolved around whatever the main characters were involved in. Be it secret postal systems, reality-altering dreams or some sort of exaggerated significantly important Department of Elevator Inspectors. So then I was thinking about our reading from last week and how we discussed technology and scientific advancements effecting the development of postmodernism. One of the things that such advancements have achieved is giving the average individual universal access. For example, blogging, personal Internet sites, etc. (That annoying Tucker Carlson show on MSNBC comes to mind) One person can now speak to millions when before that was virtually impossible and probably realistically unimaginable. Therefore the similar concept found in all three novels thus far that one person can alter or effect the “world” seems to be yet another aspect of postmodernism.

One of the things we talked about with the Hassan chart was distance versus participation. Unlike having a character/narrator/point-of-view that is merely describing occurrences, perhaps actively involved in the plot but still being told from a distance, in these novels the characters that the novels are primarily written through are right down in the thick of everything. They are more than simple detectives directing a mystery, they have much more significance because the landscape itself is much more important. Everything is exaggerated and the elements of the story itself are deeply involved and significant to every development of the story. And THEN I was thinking of intuition versus empiricism/going on feelings, instinct versus facts and observation, and I noticed the type/mutant comparison in the Hassan chart. The Empiricists being type. They went by the standard, the old fashion way and thus held on to old fashion ideals. Then the Intuitionists changed things, found a new way, modified the old way, and are therefore the mutant. The old versus new theme that ran rampantly through The Intuitionist; the old being racist, unwelcoming and the new being more-so open-minded, inclusive – also being ignored by the old, although not exactly invisible. I think it was more of a conscious effort on the part of the “old” to ignore and make invisible the “new.”