American Culture Criticism in White Noise
Discuss how Don DeLillo critiques contemporary American culture in the airborne toxic event chapter form White Noise.
Don Delillo, from White Noise, p. 1501
White Noise draws the audience’s attention to a major buried awareness among the Americans in the contemporary societies. The text explores various themes that appeared in the twentieth century, such as media saturation, consumerism, family disintegration, and disasters initiated by human beings. Don DeLillo, in the Airborne Toxic Event chapter, explores the impact of an airborne toxic event that arises from a rail accident. Jack is reluctant to relocating, citing that only people living in mobile houses fall victims of disasters (DeLillo 177). Jack’s conception about himself is different from his perception of the lower class individuals. The characters in the novel cannot draw a line between what is authentic and what is false.
DeLillo, in the chapter, implies that the changing culture in America will result in emotional insensitivity, high levels of misunderstandings, and paranoia. The toxic cloud is not real. However, an actual evacuation has to take place for future utilization. The substitution that is implied in the event is incomprehensible and raises the question about the originality of most of the events taking place in contemporary America. The symptoms of the exposure are all over the media, and characters are claiming to be experiencing them. DeLillo’s arguments in the chapter are so realistic and are a direct criticism to the sensibility of the postmodernist traits.
Work Cited
DeLillo, Don. White Noise. Viking Adult, 1985.