Randolph Driblette Character Analysis

Driblette is the director of The Courier’s Tragedy; he plays Gennaro in his own production. When Oedipa approaches him after the play to ask about his character’s reference to Trystero and the scene in which bones are dumped in a lake, Driblette insists that the play “isn’t literature” and “doesn’t mean anything.” Rather than depending upon the original script, he insists, the meaning of the play lies in his performance of it—he compares himself to a projector, filling a planetarium dome with a projection of the universe. Oedipa later borrows this metaphor to talk about putting together a theory of the Trystero conspiracy. But Driblette also refuses to explain why he had the Trystero bandits attack the protagonist, Niccolò, onstage, although he does note that this was his own idea. Ultimately, while it remains unclear whether or not Driblette is actually involved with Trystero, he does ominously warn Oedipa that she will “never touch the truth.” Later in the book, he stops answering calls, and Professor Emory Bortz tells Oedipa that “they” (presumably Trystero) attacked Driblette, and then he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Pacific Ocean. Although Oedipa never uncovers the whole story, she attends Driblette’s funeral in the last chapter of the novel. Driblette’s name is a derivative of “driblet,” which means a small amount of liquid (or anything else). This may reference Driblette’s relative insignificance as an artist or the Pacific Ocean where he died—or it could mean nothing at all, like so many of the play’s other names.