Literature Companion: White Noise

By History World

“White Noise” by Don DeLillo was first published in the year 1985. It was the eighth novel published by the author.

The book received the U. S. National Book Award for Fiction in the year of its publication.

In postmodern literature, “White Noise” has its distinct place. Before the publication of this novel, DeLillo was known in a very limited circle of readers and critics, but “White Noise” brought him to the attention of much larger number of readers.

Literature Companion: White Noise
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Thematic Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Jun 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311838575

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Literature Companion: White Noise

History World

Copyright

Literature Companion: White Noise

History World

Copyright@2014 History World

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Chapter One: Introduction

White Noise by Don DeLillo was first published in the year 1985. It was the eighth novel published by the author.

The book received the U. S. National Book Award for Fiction in the year of its publication.

In postmodern literature, White Noise has its distinct place. Before the publication of this novel, DeLillo was known in a very limited circle of readers and critics, but White Noise brought him to the attention of much larger number of readers.

White Noise was included in the list of 100 Best English Language Novels, published between 1934 and 2005, by TIME.

DeLillo had originally desired to give the title Panasonic to his book, but there was objection from the Panasonic Corporation.

Some of the most important themes of the novel are media saturation, rampant consumerism, novelty academic intellectualism, underground conspiracies, the disintegration and reintegration of the family, man-made disasters, and the potentially regenerative nature of human violence, etc. The author has explored all these themes very precisely, providing complete details of the related elements.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

The story is set in a bucolic Midwestern college ‘The College on the Hill.’ The story revolves around a year in the life of the central character Jack Gladney. He happens to be a professor, a pioneer in his field.

Jack Gladney is one of the pioneers in the field of Hitler Studies. He has established himself in top academic circles. He has done so well in the field of Hitler Studies, but he has not taken German language lessons until this year.

Jack has married four women in his lifetime. He has several children and stepchildren. The stepchildren are Heinrich, Denise, Steffie, Wilder with his present wife, Babette.

He and his present wife Babette happen to be deeply scared of death. They often wonder who between them will die first.

The first part of the book is titled Waves and Radiation. It describes the history of the family along with presenting an academic satire.

The first part of the book is confined to little details and there is very little plot development. It is a kind of introduction to the characters of the novel and the themes which are going to be significantly present throughout the novel.

The first part of the book also introduces another important character named Murray Jay Suskind, who is also a college professor and friend of Jack Gladney. Murray often discusses his theories related to the following part of the novel.

The second part of the novel is titled The Airborne Toxic Event. It is the description of a chemical accident. A chemical spill form a railway car emits a black poisonous cloud over Jack’s home region. Immediate evacuation is declared.

Jack Gladney is afraid that he will be exposed to the fatal toxin; he is compelled to confront his mortality.

The second part of the novel also introduces an organization called SIMUVAC. It is the short form for Simulated Evacuation.

Third part of the novel is titled Dylarama. In this part, the story comes back to Gladney and his present wife, Babette.

Gladney comes to know that his wife has been cheating on him to gain access to a fictional drug called Dylar. It transpires that Dylar is an experimental drug to treat the fear of death.

In this part of the book the main focus of the story shifts to the fear of death in modern society and how they try to seek chemical cures. Gladney also seems to get his own black market supply of Dylar.

The medicine, however, does not prove to be effective on Babette. It shows many possible side effects. One of the side effects is the loss of the