Article
Urban Sprawl and Existentialism in Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49
Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism
(2013)
Abstract
The Crying of Lot 49 is Thomas Pynchon's profound commentary on existentialism and on America's increasingly generic and isolating urban landscape. Pynchon weighs both topics as he depicts the existential angst of a commodified, market-driven life filled with marketing jingles, unplanned sprawl as far as the eye can see, soulless subdivisions, endless freeways, and the resulting breakdown of community where people feel disconnected and alone and their lives seem empty and meaningless. Pynchon challenges us on our own existential quest as we watch Oedipa and Mucho on their searches for meaning in this dystopia. This is a unique interdisciplinary analysis from diverse academic fields: English literature, philosophy, and urban studies and planning. Dr. Tracy Prince draws links to Voltaire, T.S. Eliot, Martin Buber, Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Susan Sontag, Norman Mailer, and influential urban planning texts (Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community and Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream) to explore the existential quest and commentary on contemporary American cities.
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Keywords
- urban studies,
- urban planning,
- philosophy,
- humanism,
- literature
Disciplines
Publication Date
2013
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/eph.v21i1.81
Publisher Statement
Dr. Tracy Prince is a Scholar-in-Residence at Portland State University's Portland Center for Public Humanities. Over her extensive career, she has taught in Humanities, English, and Urban Studies and Planning Departments.
Citation Information
Tracy J. Prince. "Urban Sprawl and Existentialism in Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49" Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism Vol. 21 Iss. 1 (2013) p. 81 - 91 ISSN: 1522-7340 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tracy-prince/8/