Postmodern writers broke the conventional rules of narrative; they wrote in fragments and experimented with language. This movement began to erase the boundaries in art and mixed various forms of literary elements into their work. DeLillo mixes narration, dialogue and cataloguing in his novel “White Noise.” Postmodernists rejected the efforts of science to explain reality, they believed that reality is how our mind interprets the world, that we each have our own reality and that is why there is no “ultimate principle” that science can provide- there is no real explanation that applies to everyone.
“I’ve never seen you off campus, Jack. You look different without your glasses and gown… You’re a different person altogether.”
“Different in what way, Eric?”
“You look so harmless, Jack. A big harmless, aging, indistinct sort of guy.” (Pg. 82-83)
Eric had a different perception of Jack and seeing him outside of the university gave him insight into the real man behind the glasses and the robe. This later prompts Jack to want to change, to shop for himself, in order to look just as powerful on campus and off. It all has to do with perceptions; our reality is not the same as someone else’s in such a small way as this.
“According to Freferic Jameson, modernism and postmodernism are cultural formations which accompany particular stages of capitalism.”
“The station wagons arrived by noon, a long shining line that coursed through the west campus…the roofs of the station wagons were loaded down with suitcases of light and heavy clothing; with boxes of blankets; boots and shoes; stationery and books; quilts…with bicycles, skis, rucksacks…inflated rafts…stereo sets, radios, personal computers…” (Pg.3)
This paragraph has an endless list of unnecessary things, DeLillo is demonstrating the effects of consumerism, the public buying things that are not needed to survive. Another image that is prevalent throughout the novel is that of the supermarket; what cries, “Consumerism!” more than that?
“This is the new austerity, flavorless packaging. It appeals to me. I feel I’m not only saving money but contributing t some kind of spiritual consensus…Everything is white. They’ll take our bright colors away and use them in the war effort.” (Pg.18)
Through Murray, DeLillo is criticizing advertising and the way it affects people. All in a simple scene, in a supermarket.
“There are two new developments in the supermarket, a butcher’s corner and a bakery, and the oven aroma of bread and cake combined with the sight of a bloodstained man pounding at strips of living veal was pretty exciting for us all.” (Pg.167)
DeLillo is mocking the excitement of a community, for more things they could buy.
“And this is where we wait together, regardless of age, our carts stocked with brightly colored goods. A slowly moving line, satisfying, giving us time to glance at the tabloids in the racks. Everything we need that is not food or love is here in the tabloid racks. The tales of the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. The miracle vitamins, the cures for cancer, the remedies for obesity. The cults of the famous and the dead.” (Pg. 326)
The book end-not ironically- with a supermarket scene, tying it back to the beginning chapters. The store looks different, people are lost and distressed, but nothing really changes- people accept these events and move on (another aspect of postmodernism). The third to last line, “Everything we need that is not food or love is here in the tabloid racks,” is particularly significant- it is the definition of what we, as a consumerist society do, we purchase things that are not necessary and will never work.
In dealing with matters of technology, the book provides many examples as to how the characters and our society are affected by technology. On page 16, Babette attempts to limit the children’s use of T.V and makes it a family event in order to de-glamorize it. Jack refers to its effect on people as a “narcotic undertow and eerie diseased brain-sucking power.” In chapter six, we also see the effect that technology has had on society,
“It’s going to rain tonight.”
“It’s raining now,” I said.
“The radio said tonight.”
…
“Look at the windshield,” I said. “Is that rain or isn’t it?”
“I’m only telling you what they said.”
“Just because it’s on the radio doesn’t mean we have to suspend belief in the evidence of our senses.” (Pg.22-23)
Heinrick is arguing with his father that the media said it would rain later on, even though it was evident that it was raining at that moment. This shows the trust we have in technology rather than our own sensory experience. We even do this in our day and age; we look at the weather on the internet or our phones instead of walking outside or looking out the window.
The book is concerned with the lives and realities of each character; it satirizes the lives of consumerist societies. All of the events that take place in the novel do not truly affect or change the characters, the media and things surrounding this community have made them more accepting of life-changing events… So many things happen around us, a variety of things that make us oblivious to the things that should matter, that just like the characters in the novel we are affected by things for short periods of time until everything goes back to normal.
Works Cited
Dr. Klages, M. (2003, April 21). Postmodernism. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from University of Colorado English Dpt.: http://www.colorado.edu/English/courses/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html
Glossary Definition: Postmodernism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2009, from PBS.org: http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html
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