The White Noise in Postmodernist Living Rooms
Postmodernism is defined as “a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in [the] human understanding of it, but rather, is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality” (2). It relies on the interpretation of the individual, arguing there are no mass truths or explanations just personal experiences and interpretations. Throughout Don DeLillo’s White Noise we watch as the numerous characters, particularly Jack and Babette, face their similar fear, that of dying, yet their experiences are radically different from each other, leading them to different conclusions and actions.
Jack spends the novel trying to understand and cope with his unnaturally acute fear of death. He becomes paranoid and destructive as he isolates himself from Babette and his family trying to find a way to help himself. He develops insomnia, as if to live more by avoiding sleep. When he seeks help from Murray, in a misguided attempt to grasp death and his life, be the dealer rather then the victim, he tries to kill Mink. “The point is you’re standing at the edge of a smoldering ruin where others lie inert and twisted. This can counteract the effect of any number of nebulous masses, at least for a time,” (pg. 287 DeLillo). He believes the way to escape his fear, since there is no medicine for it, is to observe the mortality of others and revel in his good fortune. It isn’t till he is shot that he realizes what nonsense this is as he rushes Mink to a hospital and saves his life.
Babette has a similar paralyzing fear of death but she seeks relief in medication. This placebo lets her sleep and escape for a little while, though not for very long. Eventually she is always hit with the same fears even though she can fool herself more effectively and less destructively then Jack. It does, however, lead her to compromising herself and her marriage as she sleeps with her drug dealer for the relief she perceives she is gaining from the pills.
Then there are people like Orest, who face death head on to staunch their fear. Orest is a snake tamer, facing death every time he’s encapsulated with one of his reptilian counterparts. “You don’t dwell on the negative,” (pg. 265, DeLillo). Rather then dwelling on the possibilities he moves past them, living life to his fullest, becoming the best snake wrangler around because of his unconcerned mindset. It is why Jack admires him, because he “would grow more life-strength as he neared the time,” (pg. 268, DeLillo). Instead of letting death and fear win, be the stronger forces in his life he builds his own strength.
As any postmodernist work, DeLillo represents a universal problem and shows the multitude of the human interpretation and approaches to said problem. Rather then there being just one experience shared throughout humanity, there are multiple points of view and methods of handling the same circumstance. Some are more disturbed and destructive then others but it is the uniqueness of each individual human condition that is highlighted in postmodern fiction.
- 1. DeLillo, Don. White Noise. United States of America: Penguin Books, 1998.
- "Postmodernism". Palomar. April 22, 2010 http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html
12:17:00 PM
Post a Comment