W.A.S.T.E.

Chapter four presents the reader with an abbreviation of some mysterious society not yet explained: W.A.S.T.E. It suddenly appears as a mysterious reference to something quite elite. When Oedipa mentions it as a word, she gets a offended response: “Its W.A.S.T.E., lady… an acronym, not ‘waste’, and we had best not go into it any further (70).” As soon as that conversation takes place, this piece of what is surely satire starts to emerge as often as two times per page. It is only obvious that after the first few repetitions, we wonder what it is it stands for.

It appears in Koteks envelope, in a ring, in papers, in memories, and in all sort of absurd means. We may now recall the whole mysterious context of the novel. It is all treated as a great mystery which Oedipa must uncover on her way to Pierce’s will. It is all part of the satire so I am pretty sure the acronym is also a joke, but a very important one for the whole message of the overall satire.

I have never been a great fan of mystery. Even while my friends back in primary scrambled through mysteries trying to guess out the murderer I chose to spend time on different types of themes. Nonetheless, I have found this mystery very pleasing, precisely because of its interconnection with humor, which makes it much nicer to read. I hope to soon find the meaning of the acronym so much mentioned and of many other jokes which, due to contextual situation, I often go by without catching the humor that identifies Thomas Pynchon.