White Noise By Don Delillo - 1832 Words

Literature of the eighties reflects a general atmosphere of fear at the time—fear of the unfamiliar, of death and disease. Outside of the books from that era, we can see where in American society this fear came from, how it weaved around what was alien and strangled it. We can retrospectively watch as it manifests itself in the roots of the AIDS epidemic, an outbreak of disease that took tens of thousands of lives because its origins were unknown, and it affected those who were different from the majority, those who the majority could not understand. These thematic nuances—the unknown, the unfamiliar, the fear of these things—repeatedly emerge in eighties’ texts. Whether it be novels, plays or short stories, the strange, the diseased, the dead and the terror of a combination of these things is strikingly evident. White Noise by Don DeLillo, for example, provides its audience with a depiction of a landscape of fear in the eighties. It reflects how the avera ge American felt about impending doom, about society and the changes in society that were unknown to them. It provides a basis of understanding why later, when AIDS decimated almost an entire portion of a society, these average Americans abandoned their sick friends, family members or neighbors. Angels in America, a play by Tony Kushner, shows how this fear influenced the others, people made alien by their disease or sexual orientation. Kushner’s play brings to light how othering, the process of making someone separate fromShow MoreRelatedWhite Noise By Don Delillo Essay2372 Words   |  10 Pages Don DeLillo throughout White Noise confirms through his characters that the individual is capable of expressing feelings instantaneously, but for the most part are calculated in their actions, and give off a faà §ade. With the vast use of characters, from Jack Gladney to the nun, we can take a closer look at the individuals in the world filled with white noise. There is truly the possibility for human kind to be honest down to the bone, for instance what Gladney expresses love for his children, evenRead MoreAnalysis Of White Noise By Don Delillo1467 Words   |  6 Pagesa different set of lines, guarding a few exceptions like birth and death. In the book White Noise by Don DeLillo readers get to experience different lines in the characters lives that may or may not correspond to readers own lives. The book White Noise even starts out by mentioning a line. The first line of the book remarks on the â€Å"long shining line [of station wagons] that coursed through west campus† (DeLillo 3). The author chose to first introduce readers to the story through the use of somethingRead MoreAnalysis Of White Noise By Don Delillo765 Words   |  4 PagesIn White Noise by Don DeLillo, postmodern anxiety is expressed throughout the story in the way we, as readers, interpret the text. There are several examples of postmodern anxiety being presented and felt in the s tory. Feeling of anxiety can also be felt throughout the story from following Jack on his journey to adapt to the uncertainty of his death. There are many elements of postmodern anxiety being in this story mainly because of the author Don DeLillo. Don DeLillo was part of the ParanoidRead MoreDon Delillo s White Noise841 Words   |  4 PagesDon DeLillo’s White Noise demonstrates the fictitiousness of capitalist ideology, thereby implying the ignorance of the public towards their oppression under the corporate aristocracy. Consequently, DeLillo displays the self-propagation of the mercantile system as the ultimate form of material freedom, and accentuates the use of marketing to create false needs for commodities, which appear according to Karl Marx’s definition in his A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Three aspectsRead MoreDon Delillo s White Noise1239 Words   |  5 PagesDon Delillo’s White Noise is a novel set in twentieth century Middle America. The story follows the life and journey of Jack Gladney, a teacher of Hitler Studies at a liberal arts college, and his family through their lives, which are invaded by white noise, the constant murmur of American consumerism. The narrative follows these characters as they struggle to survive, distracting them from their sense of reality. White Noise explores a host of characters’ deep underlying fears and uncertaintiesRead MoreDon Delillo White Noise Analysis1359 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to Thoreau and Plato, people like to imagine themselves living in another world because they are not content with their lives but the â€Å"Gladney† family from Don DeLillo’s â€Å"White Noise† enjoys living in their own world. With technology so advance today it is a common problem that people from all ages find it suitable to live through a virtual reality in which the real world does not exist. Even though this causes no physical harm to anyone itâ€⠄¢s just as bad as a problem as if it did. PeopleRead MoreDon Delillo s White Noise1892 Words   |  8 Pagesnaming things so hard for humans to do? Why does it matter? What difference does a name make? These are all questions raised in Don DeLillo’s White Noise. This novel teaches how to deal with these uncertainties in many different ways. This postmodern take on the human race and their reality of the world discusses why the naming of things has such a high impact. DeLillo suggests this matters because it all comes back to simulacrum, perspective, and questions the reality of these things due to allRead MoreAnalysis Of The Novel White Noise By Don Delillo1211 Words   |  5 PagesDeath Conquers All The novel White Noise by Don DeLillo is an phenomenal book for our time. It is a exceptional book to study because it explores many themes such as the fear of death and the tension between reality and artifice, both of which the main character Jack experiences and has challenges with throughout the novel. Consequently, DeLillo also attempts to establish a connection between the reader and the novel by creating these themes that are relatable and complex, yet easily and widely understoodRead More Themes in White Noise by Don DeLillo Essay2236 Words   |  9 PagesWhite Noise â€Å"The world†¦is crowded, not necessarily with occupants and not at all with memorable experiences, but with happenings; it is a ceaseless flow of seductive trivialities which invoke neither reflection, nor choice but instant participation.† (Oakeshott) The idea of the lacking of realness is one of the major themes carried out throughout the novel White Noise by Don DeLillo, especially through the device of the television. â€Å"For most people there are only two places in the worldRead MoreAnalysis Of Don Delillo s White Noise1664 Words   |  7 PagesDon DeLillo is an American writer born in 1936. DeLillo is a postmodernist and has written eleven books receiving various awards for his work. The title of DeLillo’s eighth novel White Noise brings forth many assumptions towards the overall meaning of the book. If one was to generally interpret the meaning, â€Å"white noise† is produced when sound waves are joined together creating a constant buzz. This buzz can produce a relaxing or an overwhelming feeling, depending, if it refers to a repetitive noise