Plot within a Plot within a Plot

In class, we discussed the alternating threads of Libra, the parts which follow Lee Harvey Oswald's life, and the sections which follow the conception of an attempt on the president's life by ex CIA agents (the "plot plot"). I would argue there's a third story being told here, a third message Delillo is trying to convey. As someone writing about a topic (and presenting a view on said topic) that is commonly considered the realm of crazy conspiracy theorists, he also has to convince the reader to take his novel seriously. I think he so far has accomplished that goal very well, using a number of tactics.

First, is his portrayal of Oswald. He doesn't just seem like the kind of crazy guy who would try to shoot the president (though he does very very much seem like that guy) he also seems like the kind of guy who would be susceptible to suggestion. In his early years, Lee's obsession with Marxist literature makes me see him as someone desperately searching for a group to identify with. He loves the "idea" of Russia, not just the vastness of it. He looks around himself in New Orleans and doesn't see anyone he connects with, but then he reads his Marx and believes he's found someone with a similar way of thinking, a similar intellect. Whether or not he would get along with Marx is besides the point, its just important that Lee is looking for a cause and a group he can be a part of. We see this later in Japan when he's finally found somewhere he feels comfortable and is so relieved he tries to maim himself to stay there. Also in Japan, we meet Konno, who introduces us to the idea that when a smart, older man listens to Lee and talks to him about politics, Lee will be very receptive. He might even be willing to betray his country to that older man's association, which could be of use later.

Second, in the other narrative, Delillo works to paint the CIA agents as real people with legitimate motives, not the vague, unnamed members of organizations with somber names like "CIA", "FBI" and "Illuminati". I think Delillo distances his story from conspiracy theories by subverting those tropes we associate with such theories. He doesn't portray the CIA acting unanimously, he gives us Win Everett, a man with a wife and daughter resenting his forced retirement. He gives us T-Jay Mackey, a man who may have PTSD from the Bay of Pigs, who felt personally abandoned by his government there. He gives us Laurence "Larry" Parmenter, who "hummed something that amused him". These are people. And we see their (not unreasonable) plot build from the ground up.