Don DeLillo’s “White Noise” is a multifaceted book with many confusing themes including, but not limited to, fear of death, American consumerism, technology as the enemy and loss of definite identity (GradeSaver). Grasping DeLillo’s roundabout methods for presenting these aforementioned themes can be difficult. By breaking down the foundation of the book- the reason for the title “White Noise”- understanding DeLillo’s reasoning is a lot less complex. Excerpts from the New York Times Book Review on “White Noise,” a four page article written by Jayne Anne Phillips in January of 1985, shortly after “White Noise” was originally published, analyze these themes and break down the various components that make up DeLillo’s idea of what precisely white noise is and the role it plays on America as a society.
Phillips’ analysis answered two of the questions posed in class: what white noise is and -via an interview by phone with Don DeLillo- why Jack Gladney is a Hitler studies professor. Phillips characterizes white noise as “…America’s soundtrack…expressway traffic…television…the bold print of tabloids…fast food and quad cinemas…automated teller machines…endlessly distorted, religious underside of American consumerism …supermarkets…” (Phillips 2). In addition to this, DeLillo relates the noise to children in general, claiming, “They are a form of magic. The adults are mystified by all the data that flows through their lives, but the children carry the data and absorb it most deeply. They give family life a buzz and hum; it’s almost another form of white noise,” (Phillips 4). Merged, these joint definitions can be viewed as the precursors to what white noise heralds, death. Consumerism and technology are intertwined with DeLillo’s interpretation of fear of mortality and are part of the white noise because they present an attachment to products and information. This connection, as Murray Siskind relates in his supermarket conversation about the Tibetan Book of the Dead, links these ideas as the origin and reason for fear, that these ties to Earth are what instills an overwhelming sense of one’s mortality (DeLillo 38). Children, as Babette mentions in one of her conversations with Jack about who would die first, when they leave home further the sense of impending death because there are no more little ones left to care for.
Jack Gladney’s constant dread correlates with his job. When talking about his novel and the character of Jack, DeLillo states, “It’s about death on the individual level. Only Hitler is large enough and terrible enough to absorb and neutralize Jack Gladney’s obsessive fear of dying – a very common fear, but one that’s rarely talked about. Jack uses Hitler as a protective device; he wants to grasp anything he can,” (Phillips 4). Jack’s attachment to Hitler although used as a shield from death may in fact be what is causing him so much anguish. Hitler, in spite of being immortalized by history, was a mortal, something I think Jack ignores. By meshing his identity with Hitler, Jack loses his own and reverts back to this tether as a source solid ground renewing his fear of death through attachment to a historical figure.
Works Cited
- DeLillo, Don. “White Noise Study Guide.” GradeSaver. 10 Nov 2008. Gradesaver LLC, Web. 17 Nov 2009. <http://www.gradesaver.com/white-noise/study-guide/major-themes/>.
- Phillips, Jayne Anne. “White Noise by Don DeLillo.” New York Times (1985): 1-4. Web. 17 Nov 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/13/books/delillo-noise.html?&pagewanted=4>.
- DeLillo, Don. White Noise. 20th. New York, NY: Penguin Group Publishing, 1999. Print.
Interesting Info
