Construction of Sisyphean Absurd Hero From the Perspective of ExistentialismTaking The Crying of Lot 49 as An Example

The Crying of Lot 49 is a work by Thomas Pynchon which reflects his profound insight into human existence in an entropic world of absurdity. Pynchon builds his postmodern absurd world through an ingenious urban layout and a scientific concept of entropy. The protagonist Oedipa Maas seeks to bring order out of chaos in absurdity, but all her endeavors lead her nowhere but to a future that is doomed to be hopeless. She refuses to succumb to fate, and even in the face of a life destined for tragedy, she endeavors to exhaust all possibilities, which is consistent with Camus’ philosophy of existentialism. While Camus’ Sisyphus fights against absurdity in futile and hopeless labor, Pynchon’s Oedipa dares to confront absurdity and seek hope in despair, which makes her a Sisyphean absurd hero who resists chaos and exhausts herself in the postmodern entropic world of absurdity.