Abstract

Oedipa Maas' search for the meaning behind Tristero makes her anxious and paranoid about her reality. This paranoia and anxiety is brought upon by the ubiquitous influence of major corporations, mostly through mass media. Timothy Melley describes the paranoia and anxiety of postwar authors as symptomatic of what he refers to as agency panic. Postwar authors skeptically interrogate Enlightenment notions of free will in postwar America, and fear that institutions control the everyday actions of individuals more than many might wish to admit. Oedipa Maas is threatened by the overwhelming power of an entity that is more powerful than her. Her anxiety and paranoia comes from the fear of major corporations gradually arrogating her agency