The Crying of Lot of 49, Chapter 3

Chapter three of The Crying of Lot 49 was very odd, and it was also somewhat hard for me to understand. The chapter begins following Oedipa's infidelity with Metzger. She gets a letter in the mail from Mucho. Is this supposed to serve as reminder to Oedipa that she is married woman? Oedipa finds a misprint on the envelope that read, "REPORT ALL OBSCENE MAIL TO YOUR POTSMASTER." The typo of the word postmaster really perturbs Oedipa for some reason, but Metzger just brushes it off. Oedipa and Metzger go to a bar nearby called the Scope where they run into many locals. They meet an eccentric character by the Mike Fallopian who runs a secret society. He proceeds to tell the "couple" about where his club got it name, "The Peter Pinguid Society." Fallopian talks about a lot of politics and history to explain what the group is all about. I became a little lost in this discussion. A mail man comes into the bar with vast amounts of mail, and as it turns out, the town is running a secret mail service. They are going against the government by doing this. At this point, it seems to me that Fallopian is somewhat of a comical conspiracy theorist. The chapter finally got interesting for me when Oedipa went to the ladies room and sees a flyer with a indistinguishable image on it. It looks like some kind of trumpet to me. It is a very vague flyer, and under the picture it says "WASTE only." I have no idea what this means, but it gave me something to look forward to in the novel, sort of like a mystery. The intrigue increases when Oedipa, Metzger, and the Paranoids run into Manny Di Presso while illegally borrowing a yacht. Di Presso is in full scuba gear and informs them that he is running from a client interested in suing Oepida's dead ex-husband over some business related to bones. Towards the end of the chapter Oedipa and Metzger decide to see a play that the Paranoids have mention, "The Couriers Tragedy." Pynchon takes the reader through all of the acts of the play. This portion of the chapter was probably my least favorite. It reminds me of a frame story, which I think is a story within a story. Oedipa hears the word "Trystero," which immediately catches her attention and she becomes paranoid. I am unfamiliar with the word besides the fact that mentions it in the very first sentence of Chapter 3. Chapter 3 left me with numerous questions, which I hope will be answered soon enough in the rest of the novel.

DEFINITIONS:
encapsulation (pg. 31): to be enclosed; to be summarized or condensed
allegory (pg. 31): a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
Czar Nicholas II (pg. 35) : Russia's last emperor