The Crying of Lot 49

by

Thomas Pynchon

The Pony Express was a short-lived private mail service that used horse-mounted deliverymen to connect the American West—especially California—with the rest of the nation in 1860 and 1861.
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Pony Express Term Timeline in The Crying of Lot 49

The timeline below shows where the term Pony Express appears in The Crying of Lot 49. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Conspiracy, Interpretation, and Meaning Theme Icon
Change, Redemption, and Marginalization Theme Icon
...elderly man named Mr. Thoth tells Oedipa about his grandfather, a mail courier on the Pony Express who loved murdering Native Americans. In his dreams, Thoth mixes a scene from a Porky... (full context)
Conspiracy, Interpretation, and Meaning Theme Icon
Change, Redemption, and Marginalization Theme Icon
...to sell them—someone might even want to collect them, knowing that they are false. The Pony Express stamp also has a peculiar black feather added to the image, as do seven others,... (full context)
Chapter 5
Conspiracy, Interpretation, and Meaning Theme Icon
American Modernity and Counterculture Theme Icon
...She knows it functioned in parallel to Thurn and Taxis, battled Wells, Fargo and the Pony Express , and is still being used to communicate by several people around her. But she... (full context)