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Manny Di Presso
Fallopian is a paranoid Yoyodyne employee whom Oedipa frequently meets at a San Narciso bar called The Scope. Fallopian is writing a book on the conflict between the American government and private postal companies in the 19th century, and he tells Oedipa and Metzger about the secret postal system he is starting through the underground Peter Pinguid Society. However, when he actually receives mail through the Society, it turns out to be a meaningless greeting from a coworker who is in the same bar. Later, Oedipa realizes that this system might be the same as W.A.S.T.E. In fact, although Fallopian is the first person who introduces Oedipa to string of revelations that later gets her obsessed with the Tristero, at the end of the book, Fallopian actually tries to talk Oedipa out of her conspiracy theory by pointing out that Pierce Inverarity is the common thread among everything she has identified with Tristero. In other words, while Oedipa initially sees Fallopian as a paranoid nutjob, the script is flipped and Oedipa looks like the crazy one by the end of the novel. Fallopian’s surname is a reference to the Fallopian tubes in the female reproductive system, although the narrator suggests that the name is actually just a reflection of his Armenian heritage.
Mike Fallopian Quotes in The Crying of Lot 49
The The Crying of Lot 49 quotes below are all either spoken by Mike Fallopian or refer to Mike Fallopian. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3 Quotes
“It’s the principle,” Fallopian agreed, sounding defensive. “To keep it up to some kind of a reasonable volume, each member has to send at least one letter a week through the Yoyodyne system. If you don’t, you get fined.” He opened his letter and showed Oedipa and Metzger.
Dear Mike, it said, how are you? Just thought I’d drop you a note. How’s your book coming? Guess that’s all for now. See you at The Scope.
“That’s how it is,” Fallopian confessed bitterly, “most of the time.”
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At The Scope, a San Narciso bar frequented by workers at the massive Yoyodyne Galactronics Division factory, Oedipa and Metzger meet a rebellious, paranoid Yoyodyne engineer named Mike Fallopian. Frustrated with the government’s monopolistic control over the postal system, Fallopian and his Peter Pinguid Society are trying to develop a secret mail system that can operate in parallel to the official one. For now, they are using Yoyodyne’s internal delivery system to send notes back and forth. The problem is that they don’t have enough interested members with enough to say to each other to make the system truly viable. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim.
Chapter 4 Quotes
High above the L.A. freeways,
And the traffic's whine,
Stands the well-known Galactronics
Branch of Yoyodyne.
To the end, we swear undying
Loyalty to you,
Pink pavilions bravely shining,
Palm trees tall and true.
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Seeking to find out more about Pierce Inverarity’s investments, Oedipa goes to a stockholders’ meeting at the offices of Yoyodyne’s Galactronics Division in San Narciso. She gets in because she represents the Inverarity estate, but she finds herself surrounded by old men who briefly talk business and then spend half their meeting singing more than a dozen songs about their company. This is one such song: the stockholders sing about their “undying loyalty” to the corporate headquarters where they are currently seated. Pynchon ridicules the Yoyodyne stockholders in order to point out that the supposedly rational central principle of American Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremq
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Mike Fallopian Character Timeline in The Crying of Lot 49
The timeline below shows where the character Mike Fallopian appears in The Crying of Lot 49. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
At The Scope, a young man named Mike Fallopian approaches Oedipa and Metzger and starts telling them about the Peter Pinguid Society. The Society...
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Back in the bar, Fallopian explains that his group has been developing an alternative postal system, in part by sending...
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The narrator explains that this conversation with Mike Fallopian is Oedipa’s first taste of the mysterious Tristero. The truth unfolds for her over time,...
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Chapter 4
The narrator declares that, beyond Mike Fallopian and The Courier’s Tragedy, other elements of Oedipa’s world will gradual start becoming “woven into...
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After a few days, Oedipa sees Mike Fallopian at The Scope. He tells her that Stanley Koteks is part of an underground network...
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While Metzger and Fallopian get into an argument about patent rights and politics, Oedipa thinks about the other clues...
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Oedipa visits Mike Fallopian, since the history of 19th-century mail carriers is his specialty. Fallopian laments that there is...
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Chapter 6
...ignores Bortz’s offer to introduce her to another Wharfinger expert. However, she does meet Mike Fallopian again at The Scope. She explains all her findings and asks why his mail club...
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