Repitition in The Crying of Lot 49

In these first 30 pages Pynchon is creating a sense of repetition and in doing so creates a sharper image of his characters' world. A world where this reiteration of imagery creates a surrealist reality. For example green is shown twice as a color associated with both a metaphoric and literal eye. "the greenish dead eye of the T.V tube" (1) and "Oedipa, perverse, had stood in front of the painting and cried. No one had noticed; she wore dark green bubble shades" (11) here we see once more that opaque surface, now infused with the image of a dead surface that something hides behind. Pynchon uses the repetition of driving and highways, an important theme on the west coast where driving is an essential mode of transport. Already one sees this theme emerging (13-15) where driving acts as a force driving Oedipa forward into unfamiliar territory and at the same time creating familiarity through the highway system; a system used repetitively not only in this novel but in many other novels set in California. It is most strikingly similar to Didion's "Play It as It Lays" where the main character spends hours driving just to reflect.