Despite the fact that The Crying of Lot 49 is full of communication methods, the only time anything is actually communicated is when some of the songs are sung by The Paranoids . All the letters mentioned in the novel are meaningless; relationships tend to be indulgent and superficial; even the radio broadcasts are fake. Additionally, of the few songs not sung by the Paranoids, none have any substantial meaning either. Overall, unless stated or used by a group member, no form of communication has any trace of a real desire to communicate. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first time we see meaning in the communication is just before Oedipa and Metzger have sex - yet another form of exchange void of substance - when the Paranoids sing in front of the window of their room. The song immediately makes some kind of sense because it tells a story: A man longs for the woman he loves, but knows he can't go to her - "As I lie... and you lie alone this evening...how can I come to you” (Pynchon, Thomas. The Cries of Lot 49. New York: HarperPerennial, 1999. 27). everything that appeared in the previous novel, it is monumental in honesty and emotion So far the only other forms of communication have been bombarded with grandiose effects, Time Warner For example, the entire book begins with the. appointment of Oedipa Maas as executor of an eccentric multi-millionaire She then visits her lawyer who studies nothing other than TV episodes of Perry Mason, the father of kitsch crime drama concocted. travels to San Narciso, a town paved with prefabricated buildings and billboards, typical of Las Vegas, to find the co-executor, Metzger. Something this fantastic could only happen in a Hollywood B-movie! Isn't this song the first "real" thing she encounters, the first expression of substance? The next major Paranoids song does not appear until the end of the novel; Yet before that, some other forms of empty communication appear. First, while wandering into a bar called The Scope, Oedipa meets Mike Fallopian who receives a letter via the clandestine postal service. He warns the reader (and Oedipa) in advance that the note will be rubbish by explaining that "each member must send at least one letter per week via the Yoyodyne system" (39); if they fail to do so, they are fined. Therefore, a mandatory letter, like the one Fallopian opens, cannot be expected to have any value. In fact, all he says is: "Dear Mike,...how are you? I just thought I'd leave you a message. How's your book? I guess that's it for now . See you at The Scope” (39). No one could claim that the letter has any consequence or that it presents any meaning to its reader. Even the implication that the letter writer wants to know how Mike's book is doing is purely meaningless, because there's no doubt that in reality, he doesn't care at all. So here is a perfect example of using a common form of communication to communicate nothing. The next time there is a reasonably relative exchange of ideas between people will be during Oedipa's visit to the general assembly of Yoyodyne. While she's there, the company's shareholders sing.