Inheritance and False Accusations

This is the last blog post on the Crying of Lot 49 and the first on Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

The ending of the Crying of Lot 49 left me wanting. What happens to Oedipa? Does she return to Mucho and her life as a boring housewife? The end of this novel is rushed. For the entire book Oedipa has been gathering evidence and more evidence, and everything is summed up in the final chapter. But we never actually find out any real truths. We learn the secrets of the Trystero and the history of disinheritance. The theme of disinheritance shouldn't really be a theme all that present within the novel, seeing as how it is never really said who will get what remains of Inverarity's estate and his shares. Although the mystery can be contrived to be understood as what Oedipa is receiving from his possessions. Was this mystery set up for her by Pierce? No, there are way too many common place occurrences which couldn't have been foreseen enough for Pierce to be able to rig them into some big joke. So what did Oedipa inherit from Inverarity? I would have to say that she inherits a sense of control over her life, which she wasn't able to grasp before the mystery was revealed. But in this way Pierce is able to maintain a hold on Oedipa's mind even after his death.

Act One of The Crucible is one that I have never ceased to hating, even since my first reading it as a freshman in high school. The constant bickering of the villagers reminds me of bugs that continue to fly in your face even after they have been swatted away. This is actually how I feel about most of the play as a whole. I have a lot of respect for Arthur Miller as a writer, especially in the case of Death of a Salesman, but though this may be one of his most popular works I would disagree against its entertainment value. Especially because of the naiveté of the Salem villagers in believing every case of accused witchcraft, and condemning innocent people to death. This first chapter, with the little girls calling out the names of those women they have "seen" with the devil, is especially frustrating. If I am meant to like it as a reader, I must claim it to be a character flaw on my behalf.