Pynchon relies heavily on names and naming, as a quick way of evoking characters. Both Aubade and Callisto, for instance, are single names, which suggests two characters who—although a couple—are also alone in the world, without forbears or spouses. At the same time, their names are evocative of Europe and the past—Aubade’s name is French, and Callisto’s Italian—and suggest that they are cut off from these pasts, without quite having found a place for themselves in the present. 

Meatball Mulligan, conversely, has a first and a last name, but he also has no history. He is presented in the story as a creature of the moment, with no preoccupations other than the immediate one of his party. His name, while a full name, also has a flippant, jokey sound, suggesting the name of a cartoon character or celebrity. All three of these characters’ names evoke a certain solitude and rootlessness of exiled Europeans as well as of ahistorical Americans.

Another way in which Pynchon evokes character is through frequent cultural references. These references are both high and low, encompassing classical and experimental jazz music, old Europe, and contemporary hipster America. While