This essay aims at exploring Pynchon's use of the thriller as a means to
express his ideas on the writer and his fiction in The Crying of Lot 49. The
thematic movement that the thriller presents is structured in the quest of the
protagonist, and the role of the reader is as important as that of the fictional
creature, since he also participates actively in the quest. Both are mocked,
however, in the roles they are expected to play. The pseudo-objectivity with
which Pynchon charges History and the god-like mask the author can choose
to wear when writing the novel serve Pynchon the purpose of questioning
fixed structures in narrative —the thriller being one of them— and
supporting the writer's stance as breaker of rules and ultimate link on which
any fiction depends.
