The Symbol

The Crying of Lot 49 seems to be targeting mystery stories. There is a symbol that Oedipa keeps seeing everywhere, it looks like this, and Oedipa refers to it as the WASTE symbol.

She first saw it in a bathroom stall, and then saw a young man drawing it on an envelope when she got lost at the Yoyodyne Stockholder's meeting, on a ring that belonged to an old man's grandfather, who cut it off of an indian's finger, and finally for a fourth time on a letter from the Pony Express issue of 1940.

So, yes. It is really creepy, intimidating and exciting. (cough cough) I searched the symbol on the internet when looking for a picture, and results came up calling it the "silent horn". I probably spoiled some big suprise for myself later on in the book, so, I decided not to research it further, and to just keep reading.

However, this symbol probably has to do with the whole hippie-government-rebellion thing that is going on. For example, the whole mail carrier ordeal, where they weren't using the government "monopoly" on mail service. The g

randfather who cut the ring with the symbol off of an Indian's finger was in the Pony Express(click for more information), in the gold rush days. So, I think this all has something to do with the mail.

The fourth time she sees the WASTE symbol, was on the 1940 issue of the Pony Express. At the same place, she saw an old German stamp with the workds Freimarke and Thurn und Taxis, which were the European mail service. "Decoratin each corner of the stamp...a horn with a single loop in it. Almost like the WASTE symbol" (p.77).

From all of these "clues" that Oedipa has been presented with, I think she is being led to discover some sort of governmental conspiracy, or some sort of rebellious tribe who has been going against the government.

She makes the connection whoever "they" were, their aim was to mute the Thurn of Taxis post horn.