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The Search for Truth and the Emptiness that Follows

Hilarious:.
             And part of me wanted to believe - like a child hearing, in perfect safety, a tale of horror - that the unconscious would be like any other room, once the light was let in. That the dark shapes would resolve only into toy horses and Bierdermeyer furniture. That the therapy could tame it all, bring it into society with no fear of reverting. I wanted to believe, despite everything my life had been. Can you imagine?"(110).
             The words of Dr. Hilarious portray the effect of being lost in life by following the promise of something else. Pynchon includes character of Dr. Hilarious into the novel to show the effects of a misguided life. The belief that on can change is exposed to be comical as Dr. Hilarious states; "And part of me wanted to believe - like a child hearing, in perfect safety, a tale of horror." Belief in something more to come is revealed not only to be something one should not fully accept, but also regarded as childish. Pynchon describes the power of the promise of hidden truth with his imagery of the small child. The difficulty to believe the promise of hidden truth is shown as Pynchon chooses to incorporate that only "part" of Dr. Hilarious wanted to "believe". Dr. Hilarious does not fully believe which proves that the hidden truth is as fictional and incapable of existing as a monster from a children's story. Pynchon argues in order to believe that such hidden truths exist one must either be extremely dedicated in their belief, or as uninformed as a little kid in their knowledge of monsters under the bed. Pynchon creates understanding of the doctor's foolish idea with the analogy "that the unconscious would be like any other room, once the light was let in." To compare the unconscious mind to a room is a preposterous assumption. Pynchon reveals that the unconscious is an unknown and scary realm that is not as confined or understood as easily as flicking a switch to light a dark room.


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