What is the theme in The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon?

With a protagonist named Oedipa, this novel clearly presents itself as a modern retelling of the Oedipus myth from Ancient Greece, now set in 1950's California. The story of Oedipus explored the power of fate, wielded by gods, to determine people's lives. Freud used this myth as a metaphoric explanation of identity development among boys. Pynchon's novel explores a female character's search for identity, and substitutes modern social forces for fate; in particular, the power of economic and technological development.