The Crying of Lot 49

In a sense, The Crying of Lot 49 can be read as Oedipa Maas’s journey from being hemmed in by mid-20th century patriarchal stereotypes about women—e.g. as homemakers (2), helpless (3), emotional (11), damsels in distress (12)—to becoming a more independent, agential woman who is no longer so reliant on “[her] men” to run her life (126). Discuss the gender politics of Pynchon’s novel. Do you agree with the above assessment of Oedipa as something of a feminist figure? 

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