Search citation statements
Paper Sections
Citation Types
Publication Types
Relationship
Authors
Journals
Keeping in mind that both science and literature bring complementary endeavors in the process of perception and creation as well as in the world through which those processes take part, this article deals with irreversible time and entropy as presented in Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. Even though Pynchon acknowledges the entropic pull and consequently the dissipation of energy, he also regards entropy in Claude Shannon's terms, as a proliferation of information. In this sense, the system gets activated toward increasing complexity rather than heat death, juxtaposing it to chaos theory so that its underlying principle encompasses both renewal and dissolution. In Pynchon's vision, just as closed mechanical systems gradually lose energy and dissipate, so do societies run down, tend toward disorder, and ultimately collapse if there is no input of external energy. Yet, despite the menacing, official notion of entropy as the irreversible movement toward the absolute end of time, Pynchon's novel shows systems' "correspondences" with their surroundings, which gives them new possibilities. Open systems are in a better position because they can evolve with the arrow of time facing forward. Consequently, as the paper argues, information (recognized as disorder) is growing so rapidly that the systems get overloaded, distorted, and buried in noise, augmenting the main character's (who acts as a "demon" and sorts out information) confusion and the systems' complexities.
Keeping in mind that both science and literature bring complementary endeavors in the process of perception and creation as well as in the world through which those processes take part, this article deals with irreversible time and entropy as presented in Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. Even though Pynchon acknowledges the entropic pull and consequently the dissipation of energy, he also regards entropy in Claude Shannon's terms, as a proliferation of information. In this sense, the system gets activated toward increasing complexity rather than heat death, juxtaposing it to chaos theory so that its underlying principle encompasses both renewal and dissolution. In Pynchon's vision, just as closed mechanical systems gradually lose energy and dissipate, so do societies run down, tend toward disorder, and ultimately collapse if there is no input of external energy. Yet, despite the menacing, official notion of entropy as the irreversible movement toward the absolute end of time, Pynchon's novel shows systems' "correspondences" with their surroundings, which gives them new possibilities. Open systems are in a better position because they can evolve with the arrow of time facing forward. Consequently, as the paper argues, information (recognized as disorder) is growing so rapidly that the systems get overloaded, distorted, and buried in noise, augmenting the main character's (who acts as a "demon" and sorts out information) confusion and the systems' complexities.
Although there is no explicit comparison in Mason & Dixon of the astronomer protagonist Charles Mason to the eponymous hero of Shakespeare's masterpiece, indisputable references to the play are to be found in the novel. Mason is endowed with qualities which mirror Hamlet's virtues and vices: he is a leader and a man of education and wit, though his metaphysical longings entice him towards madness and suicide. He is emburdened with a deep melancholy stemming from bereavement, loss of love, the hauntings of a ghost, indecision, even cowardice and frustrated ambition.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.