Post by group2 on Jun 8, 2008 16:57:37 GMT -5
** see final essay below this post**
Through his postmodernist novel, White Noise, Don Delillo explores the commercialism, consumerism, and the repetitiveness that envelops society. He criticizes how people are controlled by commercialism, and how it stifles the original thought of each individual-- such as Willie Mink, Steffie, and Heinrich, to whom commercials have become mantras, as they recite what they see and hear in the media. Where modernism emphasized the call for unity, coherence, and meaning-- the basic necessities for a strong society; the postmodernist standpoint Delillo takes doubts the likelihood that such standards can even exist within society. Postmodernism is the idea that society was never centralized to begin with, as Delillo portrays amidst the tranquilized chaos of the 20th century lifestyle. While modernist works address the urbanized societies and environments, postmodernists such as Delillo focus on the commercialized lifestyle we live, and recognizes the shame in simplifying people into the “sum total of [their] data” (Delillo 141). In White Noise, Delillo shows how instable society is, and the inability people have to translate their fears and wishes into coherent notions.
By emphasizing his commentary on the airborne crisis on a local level, Delillo is enforcing that there is no unity in society, which agrees with the postmodernist idea that there never was a center to society. Delillo concentrates much of his attention to these aspects of postmodernism with the idea of consumerism that radiates throughout the novel. He shows at a local level how his town is affected by the airborne toxic event, and one of the main concerns for the town is recognition of their loss from the media, rather than the loss itself of “everything we love and have worked” (155). The town’s main distress is not that they had to move out of their homes because of the toxic cloud, but because they are not commercialized in a society that feeds off of the media. If other people don’t witness their pain and suffering then the overall crisis has no meaning. It is the same with the “most photographed barn in America”; society popularizes certain insignificant events and structures that would have no meaning, but as Jack Gladney states “We’re not here to capture an image; we’re here to maintain one” (12). Nobody actually cared about the barn in itself, but that it got attention. Delillo recognized the petty concerns and interests which people cultivate in society, which is weakly strung together by commercials and tabloids.
Delillo expresses the lack of a sound center in Jack’s postmodern world. When Jack’s family went to the mall, in search of comfort, he noted that they had gained a sense of fulfillment from the material things. “The sense of well-being, the security and contentment these products brought to some snug home in our souls—it seemed we had achieved a fullness of being that is not known to people who need less, expect less” (138). The commercialism of their society breeds emptiness within their world. The characters rely on material objects to fill the void of the greater society. When Jack and Winnie Richards went to watch one of the sunsets during the airborne toxic event, Jack could not even describe the magnificence of the spectacle. He was too busy seeing the larger picture of life, to him it was just another romantic “postmodern sunset.” Jack could not clearly articulate the meaning of the sunset, or see the simple beauty it held. “Why try to describe it? It’s enough to say that everything in our field of vision seemed to exist in order to gather the light of this event,” Jack had contemplated (216). The entropy in Jack’s world caused him to further doubt existence, and he came to believe that the center of society was nonexistent.
While White Noise is dripping with the debilitating effects of consumerism and its hold on society, Delillo also takes time to focus on the loss of religion in the postmodern world. When Jack takes Willie Mink to the hospital, he encounters a German nun whom he asks "What does the Church say about heaven today? Is it still the old heaven, like that, in the sky?" (302). The nun replies with an answer that deeply troubles Jack. She asks him "do you think we're stupid?" (302). Jack is dumbfounded by the idea that the most pious figures on earth do not have any faith. Though Jack is not a man of religion, he still finds the need for others to believe in a higher being.. The nun affirms this notion when she says, "Our pretense is a dedication. Someone must appear to believe. Our lives are no less serious than if we professed real faith, real belief. As belief shrinks from the world, people find it more necessary than ever that someone believe" (304). When Jack discovers that the world is actually absent of believers, his fear of death is heightened, for now, there is no one who actually believes anyone will ascend. Through this scene, Delillo is trying to say that the world no longer places importance on organized religion, yet people assuage their worries vicariously through the few “believers” that are left.
Perhaps the new age of consumerism has not only led our nation to complacency, but has carried over into our belief system. Society goes about unaffected by real tragedy, unless the media covers it— otherwise it is clearly unimportant.
Through his postmodernist novel, White Noise, Don Delillo explores the commercialism, consumerism, and the repetitiveness that envelops society. He criticizes how people are controlled by commercialism, and how it stifles the original thought of each individual-- such as Willie Mink, Steffie, and Heinrich, to whom commercials have become mantras, as they recite what they see and hear in the media. Where modernism emphasized the call for unity, coherence, and meaning-- the basic necessities for a strong society; the postmodernist standpoint Delillo takes doubts the likelihood that such standards can even exist within society. Postmodernism is the idea that society was never centralized to begin with, as Delillo portrays amidst the tranquilized chaos of the 20th century lifestyle. While modernist works address the urbanized societies and environments, postmodernists such as Delillo focus on the commercialized lifestyle we live, and recognizes the shame in simplifying people into the “sum total of [their] data” (Delillo 141). In White Noise, Delillo shows how instable society is, and the inability people have to translate their fears and wishes into coherent notions.
By emphasizing his commentary on the airborne crisis on a local level, Delillo is enforcing that there is no unity in society, which agrees with the postmodernist idea that there never was a center to society. Delillo concentrates much of his attention to these aspects of postmodernism with the idea of consumerism that radiates throughout the novel. He shows at a local level how his town is affected by the airborne toxic event, and one of the main concerns for the town is recognition of their loss from the media, rather than the loss itself of “everything we love and have worked” (155). The town’s main distress is not that they had to move out of their homes because of the toxic cloud, but because they are not commercialized in a society that feeds off of the media. If other people don’t witness their pain and suffering then the overall crisis has no meaning. It is the same with the “most photographed barn in America”; society popularizes certain insignificant events and structures that would have no meaning, but as Jack Gladney states “We’re not here to capture an image; we’re here to maintain one” (12). Nobody actually cared about the barn in itself, but that it got attention. Delillo recognized the petty concerns and interests which people cultivate in society, which is weakly strung together by commercials and tabloids.
Delillo expresses the lack of a sound center in Jack’s postmodern world. When Jack’s family went to the mall, in search of comfort, he noted that they had gained a sense of fulfillment from the material things. “The sense of well-being, the security and contentment these products brought to some snug home in our souls—it seemed we had achieved a fullness of being that is not known to people who need less, expect less” (138). The commercialism of their society breeds emptiness within their world. The characters rely on material objects to fill the void of the greater society. When Jack and Winnie Richards went to watch one of the sunsets during the airborne toxic event, Jack could not even describe the magnificence of the spectacle. He was too busy seeing the larger picture of life, to him it was just another romantic “postmodern sunset.” Jack could not clearly articulate the meaning of the sunset, or see the simple beauty it held. “Why try to describe it? It’s enough to say that everything in our field of vision seemed to exist in order to gather the light of this event,” Jack had contemplated (216). The entropy in Jack’s world caused him to further doubt existence, and he came to believe that the center of society was nonexistent.
While White Noise is dripping with the debilitating effects of consumerism and its hold on society, Delillo also takes time to focus on the loss of religion in the postmodern world. When Jack takes Willie Mink to the hospital, he encounters a German nun whom he asks "What does the Church say about heaven today? Is it still the old heaven, like that, in the sky?" (302). The nun replies with an answer that deeply troubles Jack. She asks him "do you think we're stupid?" (302). Jack is dumbfounded by the idea that the most pious figures on earth do not have any faith. Though Jack is not a man of religion, he still finds the need for others to believe in a higher being.. The nun affirms this notion when she says, "Our pretense is a dedication. Someone must appear to believe. Our lives are no less serious than if we professed real faith, real belief. As belief shrinks from the world, people find it more necessary than ever that someone believe" (304). When Jack discovers that the world is actually absent of believers, his fear of death is heightened, for now, there is no one who actually believes anyone will ascend. Through this scene, Delillo is trying to say that the world no longer places importance on organized religion, yet people assuage their worries vicariously through the few “believers” that are left.
Perhaps the new age of consumerism has not only led our nation to complacency, but has carried over into our belief system. Society goes about unaffected by real tragedy, unless the media covers it— otherwise it is clearly unimportant.