Free Sample Essays > North American
White Noise
“White Noise”, written by Don Delillo, is a black comedy which introduces readers to the theme of technology, and it’s impact on man. In the text Delillo explores the supposed triumphs of man in the field of technology, with the consequence that man not only becomes ruled by the very thing he creates, but also with the impact that man uses technology to fill emotional voids, to the extent where technology now manufactures man.
The text is set in the middle of the technological revolution in the middle of the eighties, nicknamed the “me” generation, and Delillo explores the lives and pursuits of man in terms of technology in a rather satirical way.
The first instance in which Delillo explores his views on man as a manufactured item, as well as their emotional commitment to manufactured items and technology is evident during a procession which Jack’s character calls “The Day of the Station Wagons”, (pg.5).
“This assembly of station wagons, as much as anything they might do in the course of the year, more than formal liturgies or laws, tells the parents they are a collection of the like-minded and the spiritually akin, a people, a nation.”
JACK, PG. 4, CHAPTER 1
Another episode in which Delillo expresses his views on manufactured people and their commitment to technology is when Jack and Babette go shopping. In this text the supermarket is used as a representation of technology, and expresses how man relies on this form of technology to fill emotional voids.
“It seemed to me that Babette and I, in the mass and variety of our purchases… in the sense of replenishment we felt, the sense of well-being, the security and contentment these products brought… it seemed we have achieved a fullness of being that is known to people who need less, expect less, who plan their lives around lonely walks in the evening.”
JACK, PG. 20, CHAPTER 5
The text satirically portrays situations in which it is evident that technology controls people to the extent where man relies largely on technology in the course of their daily lives. In this text Delillo again uses the supermarket to reinforce his view.
The supermarket shelves have been rearranged. It happened one day without warning. There is agitation and panic in the aisles, dismay in the faces of older shoppers.”
JACK, PG. 325, CHAPTER 40
This quote reinforces Delillo’s suggestion of man’s increased reliance on technology in their daily lives, and the way man does this to the point where technology becomes a part of their daily routine. Delillo suggests that man invests too much of their trust in technology, and have too much faith in it’s stability, only to be disillusioned, in this case with the supermarket, and earlier in the text in terms of the air born toxic event. Delillo portrays man’s disillusionment with the instability of technology in a rather satirical way, possibly exaggerating what might otherwise have been slight annoyance into agitation and panic.