How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"You know the Nefastis machine? Well this was invented by John Nefastis, who's up at Berkeley now. John's somebody who still invents things. Here. I have a copy of the patent." (3.15)
Why is Koteks so obsessed with patents? What does his obsession reveal about the nature of invention? Is it true that individual scientists don't invent things anymore?
Quote #5
He went on to tell how the Nefastis machine contained an honest-to-God Maxwell's Demon. All you had to do was stare at the photo of Clerk Maxwell, and concentrate on which cylinder, right or left, you wanted the Demon to raise the temperature in. The air would expand and push a piston. (3.19)
Is Koteks nuts? How can he so easily mix real science and mysticism? What might we make of the fact that this is the best invention he can come up with?
Quote #6
Metzger had been listening to the car radio. She got in and rode with him for two miles before realizing that the whimsies of nighttime reception were bringing them KCUF down from Kinneret, and that the disk jockey talking was her husband, Mucho. (3.174)
How does technology affect Oedipa's conscience? Does this scene explain why she often senses that the means of communication around her are trying—themselves—to communicate something?