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The Crying of Lot 49 | Study Guide

Thomas Pynchon

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Course Hero. "The Crying of Lot 49 Study Guide." Course Hero. 16 Mar. 2018. Web. 6 June 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Crying-of-Lot-49/>.

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Course Hero. (2018, March 16). The Crying of Lot 49 Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Crying-of-Lot-49/

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Course Hero. "The Crying of Lot 49 Study Guide." March 16, 2018. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Crying-of-Lot-49/.

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Course Hero, "The Crying of Lot 49 Study Guide," March 16, 2018, accessed June 6, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Crying-of-Lot-49/.

The Crying of Lot 49 | Characters

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Character Description
Oedipa Maas Oedipa Maas is a 28-year-old suburban housewife. When she is named an executor of her ex-boyfriend's will, she becomes involved in investigating a shadowy organization called the Tristero. Read More
Wendell "Mucho" Maas Wendell Maas is a former used-car salesman turned radio DJ who goes by the nickname "Mucho." He is married to Oedipa. Read More
Metzger Metzger is a lawyer with the firm that handles Pierce's estate. He becomes Oedipa's lover. Read More
Dr. Hilarius Dr. Hilarius is Oedipa's psychiatrist. He wants her to join a study on the effects of LSD and other drugs on suburban housewives. Read More
Jesús Arrabal Jesús Arrabal is a Mexican revolutionary who met Oedipa and Pierce during their vacation to Mexico. Oedipa later meets up with him in a coffee shop and learns he has been exiled.
Grace Bortz Grace Bortz is Emory's wife. She tends to the children while her husband meets with Oedipa.
Emory Bortz Emory Bortz is a professor. He once taught at Berkeley, but now he teaches at a college in San Narciso.
Genghis Cohen Genghis Cohen is an "eminent philatelist," or stamp expert, who has been hired to valuate Pierce's stamp collection. He comes to the auction to bid on some items.
Manny Di Presso Manny Di Presso is a lawyer turned actor. He is working again as a lawyer and plans to bring a case against Pierce's estate on behalf of his client Tony Jaguar.
Randolph Driblette Randolph Driblette is an actor and director who put on a version of the play The Courier's Tragedy. He later ends up walking into the Pacific to his death.
Mike Fallopian Mike Fallopian is a member of the Peter Pinguid Society, an extreme right-wing underground group whose main rival is the Birch Society. Fallopian hangs out at The Scope.
Caesar Funch Caesar Funch is the program director at KCUF, the radio station where Mucho works.
Hernando Joaquín Hernando Joaquín de Tristero y Calavera is said to be the founder of the Tristero.
IA member Oedipa meets a man at a bar called The Greek Way who claims to be a member of Inamorati Anonymous, an underground group of people who shun romance. He calls Oedipa by the name "Arnold Snarb."
Pierce Inverarity Though Pierce never appears in the story, his shadow looms over it. He named Oedipa as executor of his will, and he may have engineered the Tristero investigation as a hoax.
Tony Jaguar Tony Jaguar is the alias of Anthony Giunghierrace. He is "very big" in the Mafia, or Cosa Nostra.
Stanley Koteks Stanley Koteks is a frustrated inventor at the Yoyodyne Corporation. He might be a member of the Tristero.
Miles Miles works at the front desk of Echo Courts, Oedipa's motel. He is also in the band the Paranoids.
John Nefastis John Nefastis is the inventor of the Nefastis Machine, which contains a Maxwell's demon. Nefastis tests Oedipa to see if she is a "sensitive," and when she is not, he offers sex as a consolation prize.
Loren Passerine Loren Passerine is the auctioneer for the auction of Pierce's estate.
Roseman Roseman is the Maas couple's lawyer. He wishes he could be a successful trial lawyer.
Serge Serge is a member of the band the Paranoids. His girlfriend leaves him and elopes with Metzger.
Mr. Thoth Mr. Thoth is an elderly man at Vesperhaven House, a home for senior citizens. He tells Oedipa about his grandfather riding for the Pony Express.
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