Postmodernism in White Noise free essay sample

For example, comical events precede the shooting of Willie Mink, like Jack repeating the name of Hitler’s dog three times during the Hitler conference, when in fact the atmosphere should have been dark and sinister. This creates an illusion that the plot did not look like it was going to move toward a dark ending. Also, the novel seems to be a parody of the quest for meaning. This can be seen in the character of Murray Jay Siskind, who tries to find meaning in every quotidian thing, especially the wide array of technology around him. For example, the supermarket, for him, seems like the â€Å"Tibetan holding place for dead souls. † He also thinks of the television as a powerful spiritual and psychic tool. The sense of paranoia, another postmodern element, is also palpable in White Noise, as the question â€Å"Who will die first? † or â€Å"When will we die? † haunts almost every chapter of the novel. We will write a custom essay sample on Postmodernism in White Noise or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Finally, one of the most obvious indicators of postmodernism in this novel is the â€Å"technoculture† and â€Å"hyperreality† present in the consumer and advertising culture not just of Jack, but of the people surrounding him. Because of the latest technology, the line dividing reality and artifice has become a blur, which can be seen in the SIMUVAC (Simulated Evacuation), wherein a real emergency event served as a preparation for a simulation. The artificial has replaced the real; the representation has become more important than the thing it represents. Consumerism and technology also give a false sense of security to the characters, like in one scene where Jack feels some sense of â€Å"comfort and reassurance† while shopping in the supermarket. Don de Lillo’s White Noise: Influences of consumerism and advertising Consumerism is introduced as early as the first five chapters of White Noise. The school where Jack works in has a whole department for popular culture. Murray, his colleague, even proposes to establish a department for Elvis Presley, similar to the Hitler department chaired by Jack. Obviously, the professors in the college consider this as significant even if other people think otherwise. Image and aura is also important for Jack. Upon installation as the department chair of Hitler studies, he was advised by the college chancellor to change his image into a more formidable one. Hence, Jack starts to refer to himself professionally as J. A. K. Gladney, and he also starts wearing eyeglasses with dark lenses to give him an academic, professional look. However, Jack feels detached from the identity he created for himself. Later in the novel, during the airborne toxic event, Jack wishes that he had his academic clothes and dark glasses with him during that time. From this, one can see the power of image, or advertising, on the protagonist. Jack’s academic regalia can be equated to Jack’s increased sense of security when he is actually wearing his academic gown and glasses, as opposed to his vulnerability when he is not wearing them. In this case, the image that Jack projects has become more important than him–the representation ahs become more essential than the one being represented. The supermarket also serves as a huge symbolism of security in the novel. In Chapter 5, Jack was said to have felt a sense of completeness after shopping in the supermarket. â€Å"Consumerism has the power to complete the individual, and the supermarket stands at the center of that commodity-driven world (Sparknotes, 2006). † But this is not the same for all individuals. The old people, specifically the Treadwells, find the supermarket a fearful place. For them, the mall can swallow them up in its vastness. This can be interpreted as the lack of adaptation skills of older people to modern technology as compared to the younger ones. But in a way, the supermarket only gives a false sense of security because it is not constant. At the end of the novel, it is said that the supermarket’s contents are rearranged, throwing the individuals â€Å"in a state of panic and confusion. † Here, â€Å"the supposed consumers end up consumed themselves (Sparknotes, 2006). † Technology, in general, gives a false sense of security to Jack and the other characters in the novel. Examples are when Jack feels in control when he withdraws from the ATM, or their Friday night ritual of watching television as a form of bonding. Another pertinent example is when Jack’s wife, Babette, is secretly taking pills called Dylar, supposedly alleviating her fear of death. But instead of doing that, Dylar changes her into a withdrawn individual. It is also through Dylar that the fact that she has committed infidelity toward her husband just to procure this unlicensed medication is revealed, thus crumbling all the walls of security that Jack had built around himself. Babette made him feel secure, and because of her infidelity, Jack is overcome with a sense of revenge for the manufacturer of Dylar, Willie Mink. But when he is ready to kill Mink, he finds him in a state of near craziness, watching television and repeating advertisements and fragments of the show as if thinking he were the television himself, while popping Dylar into his mouth. Both the Dylar and the television has destroyed Mink, because at that point, he is unable to differentiate the words from the things that they represent–the artificial blurring the reality. Mink, perhaps, is one of the worst casualties of consumerism in this novel. The title, White Noise, refers to the constant hum of technology around Jack, something he hears often and which he equates with death. The SIMUVAC is also an example of the artificial rising over reality, since real events are used to prepare for later simulations. This seems a bit comical, but it reveals the fact that because of technology that allows for duplication, it becomes harder to see where reality ends and the artificial begins. The airborne toxic event is also a proof that too much technology can eventually ruin and destroy not just a person but even the whole society. This is an image of technology gone berserk, when people cannot control what they have created. John Updike’s Rabbit, Run: Postmodern elements Written in 1960, author John Updike creates a complicated hero in the character of Harry â€Å"Rabbit† Angstrom, a former basketball star in his high school days, who never quite gets over that fact. One very big postmodern element in Rabbit Run is the hero himself, Rabbit, who is unlike all other heroes in other novels–he runs off and deserts his family, lives with a prostitute, runs off a second time and indirectly causing the death of his newly-born daughter, does not admit to this crime, nd finishes the book running off a third time. The title itself is what the book is all about–Rabbit running away. Rabbit is also a picture of irony. He is a religious man, yet he takes a prostitute, Ruth, and leaves his family. He runs away from his mundane job as a Magipeel peeler salesman, his boring marriage with a â€Å"du mb† wife, social climbing his in-laws, but he runs toward his inner reality, what he perceives to be more real than the hypocrisy surrounding him. Rabbit searches for meaning in his life in a most unusual way–by running away, not caring if he hurt the people surrounding him. It can also be seen here that unlike Jack from White Noise, Rabbit is not fooled by the society around him. He is not led to believe that the television or any other modern technological gadget has power over him, and these things does not give him the false sense of security that characters from White Noise gets from them. Rabbit can discern what is real–his instincts–from what is not. Rabbit is irresponsible, but he is â€Å"still fighting,† as Ruth says, from the clutches of the fraudulent world, albeit excessively. John Updike’s Rabbit, Run: Influences of consumerism and advertising It is interesting to note that Rabbit, the novel’s protagonist, is a Magipeel peeler salesman, and yet he always tries to run away from his marriage, family, job, and life in general. This is because despite Rabbit being an instrument of consumerism himself, he rejects consumerism–he does not want to accept the â€Å"phoniness and mass delusions offered by society (Monarch notes, 1990),† and which then can be considered as a virtue because he does not tolerate hypocrisy. He resists to be tricked by the modernity that has enveloped the world around him, hence he runs away whenever things get unbearable for him. However, though this might seem virtuous, this attitude of Rabbit hurts the people around him. This can also be seen as a lack of responsibility on Rabbit’s part. He cannot adapt to the changes in society, he cannot take responsibilities, and these, in turn, destroy him. Two metaphors can be analyzed in relation to consumerism: basketball and Ruth, the prostitute. The first one, basketball, is a resonating metaphor throughout the novel, often symbolizing the lost youth of Rabbit, and even used to describe Rabbit’s sexual escapades. Since it is a fact that Rabbit is immature and childish, it can be gleaned in the text that basketball is something that gives Rabbit a false sense of security–a characteristic of consumerist societies. Rabbit was once a basketball hero in his high school days, and he never gets over this fact even as he grows older. In fact, the novel opens with Rabbit playing basketball with unknown teenage boys. When he becomes older and the fleeting fame basketball gave him has vanished, Rabbit is left vulnerable, because in reality, he uses the principles of playing basketball in every aspect of life (i. e. sexuality, neatness). He uses this as a shield against society, but when his fame has left him, there is nothing left for him to do but to escape, because his security object is not there anymore. Rabbit is of course, seen as a childish person in the novel. The mere fact that he cannot get over basketball is childish, plus the fact that he somehow envies his son Nelson when he is being fed by Rabbit’s parents. He also refuses to â€Å"mature. † Rabbit can be quoted telling Eccles, â€Å"If youre telling me Im not mature, thats one thing I dont cry over since as far as I can make out its the same thing as being dead. He does not care about others’ feelings. It seems like he goes through life in a childish way, always running away from the phonies and domesticities in life. He runs away from the artificiality of American society, and runs toward his own inner reality, which is his instinct, his guts, his heart. For Rabbit, â€Å"Goodness lies inside, there is nothing outside. † His constant running makes him a social outcast, because he cannot–and will not–adapt to change. Rabbit has this sense of primitiveness. This was perceived by Eccles, and so â€Å"he takes him away from the world of gadgets to nature itself–a job gardener for Mrs.