Born in 1936, only a few years before World War II, Don DeLillo is one of American's most prominent and enigmatic postwar authors. DeLillo's works have focused on a number of archetypical postwar American concerns--from the power of film and television in a mass-mediated age to the terror of the JFK assassination and the rise of global terror.
In class, we discussed some of the ways in which DeLillo's White Noise was both a distinct "novel of the 1980s" and a uniquely postmodern work. What are some of the central themes in White Noise--and how are they postmodern? How does the novel manifest the tail-end of Cold War paranoia and the ambivalence towards technology often experienced during the nuclear arms race between the USSR and the U.S.? What kind of novel is White Noise? Would you label it a sci-fi or fantasy work? Or, something else entirely?
A central theme in White Noise is death. As we mentioned in class, death is something some are afraid of and others ignore. In White Nose, many characters are frightened by death and fear the actual ideas of it. Another theme is appearance. At the beginning, Jack changes to dress the part of his job. Specialties such as Elvis and Hitler are chosen to be unique. Murray purchases generic groceries because they are so great and different from the norm. Each of these represents a character forming an appearance. I believe that White Noise is more of a fantasy because it is depicting the image of a normal perfect family or life. Don Delillo uses the idea that no family is normal and that abnormality is much more common. The idea of death is similar to the paranoia during the nuclear arms race because people fear it when in reality, there isn’t much you can do to stop it.
ReplyDeleteAs Kaitlyn mentioned, an overwhelmingly obvious theme in White Noise is that of Death. In fact, DeLillo originally called the novel "The American Book of the Dead." The character Murray Siskind is fascinated by the other character's "American magic and dread" and, so, goes after the essence of this paranoia. A more postmodern theme throughout is the 'white noise' that surrounds the characters, that of the noise of people milling about, the television, radio, and other media floating around, and an exponential number of other inputs of 'noise.' Baudrilard's postmodernist theory of finding meaning in a world full of, ultimately, meaningless images and sounds can be said to be found within this white noise.
ReplyDelete"White Noise" fits many genres, but does not entirely fit into one. There are science-fiction moments (secret experiments, new medicines, etc.), dark-romantic moments (death/who in the marriage will die first), and even comedic performances by the characters. This general appeal is what creates DeLillo's postmodern novel: a seemingly plotless, author controlled reality, within a highly textualized setting.
I agree with them also but I also offer up the negative effects technology has on the lives of the characters. With jack always asking if television in homes makes everyone stupider and Murray's constant obsession with it. Jack said the more that technology grows the more ways there are to die and to be told about death. which brings back full circle the subject of death. Even though Jack is obsessed with death and Murray tells him that a killer gains life from a dier, Jack couldn't go through with it and was willing to sacrifice that potential for extra life by showing humanity and taking Mr. Gray to the hospital after he shoots him and was planning on killing him.
ReplyDelete"White Noise" does fit many genres and fits them nicely. A family drama, a heroic tale with a tragic hero, a dark sinister romance novel littered with sexuality and of course scifi in the talk of all the neurons and molecules and secret doctors with secret new medicines and miracle cures.
Like the others have said, the main theme of "White Noise" seems to be death. The characters seemed to be swallowed up in the thought of death, especially Jack. Jack is terrified of the thought of death and wonders when he is going to die. He and his wife debate on who is going to die first, which is not necessarily a common topic discussed. However, we are able to see that Jack's fear of death stems from his fear of being alone.
ReplyDeleteTechnology also seems to negatively effect the characters. It consumes them. When the air plane almost crashed and the disaster hit the town the people felt as if they weren't of importance to the world because it wasn't captured in the media. This gives off the feeling that they feel as life their life isn't meaningful unless someone else is watching, which takes away from the beauty of life. The fear of technology taking over was a common fear many people had.
I would probably put this novel in the category of sci-fi. Although it portrays some truth in saying that technology has taken over us, there are so many crazy things that happen within the story.