The Crying of Lot 49, Chapter 6

It is in Chapter 6 of the novel that Oedipa finally begins to give up hope on the whole Tristero theory. She begins to turn down opportunities to meet with people that might be able to tell her more about the Tristero. Oedipa starts to consider that she could possibly be going insane or that maybe Pierce plotted against her and planned this whole thing. She meets up with Bortz who is able to tell her lots of information on how the Tristero came to be. This doesn't satisfy Oedipa. She is eager to find out why Driblette used the alternate line in his version of The Courier's Tragedy. ("No hallowed skein of stars can ward, I trow, who's once been set his tryst with Trystero.") It turns out that Driblette drowned herself in the ocean, so Oedipa never finds out. When Oedipa goes to see Fallopian at the Scope to talk about all of the updates she has discovered, she realized even he is doubting her. He wants to know if she has considered the possibility that Pierce set the entire thing up. He says, "Has it ever occurred to you, Oedipa, that somebody's putting you on? That this is all a hoax, maybe something Inverarity set up before he died?" This really upsets Oedipa and seems to be one of the last straws. Now even the biggest conspiracy theorist she knows doesn't believe in her. Oedipa also finds out what W.A.S.T.E means ("WE AWAIT SILENT TRISTERO'S EMPIRE") This seems like it would be a big deal, but Oedipa still doesn't really understand what it means. Oedipa is feeling more lost than ever. She's lost her husband, Metzger, and all aspects of her old life because of Pierce's death and her obsession with Tristero. Her last hope is Pierce's stamp set. Genghis tells Oedipa that a mysterious individual is interested in the auctioning off of the stamp collection. They think that this possibly could be a member of Tristero trying to keep the stamps concealed. At the end of the book Oedipa decides to go to the auction out of curiosity to see who the mysterious person could be. However, the book ends before it is revealed. THIS ABSOLUTELY KILLS ME! I wanted to find out if Oedipa ever got any kind of absolution.

DEFINITIONS:
Pony Express:  A system of mail delivery operating from 1860–61 between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, using horse riders.

William of Orange: King of England and Scotland and Ireland; he married the daughter of James II and was invited by opponents of James II to invade England; when James fled, William III and Mary II were declared joint monarchs (1650-1702)