Social Commentary In White Noise By Don Delillo

Literature can be used as a platform for social commentary. The opening passage of White Noise by Don DeLillo employs a cynical tone, commenting on the clear separation between classes. The distinction between the privileged Americans and those who aren’t as wealthy is evident and self-perpetuating, due to the classist nature of the society. White noise is a form of background noise, which can be used to block out other distractions and unwanted noise. This is reflected in the shared attitudes of society due to the self-perpetuation of the wealthy to create a larger divide between classes and the separation of those with mental illnesses in the insane asylum. By conducting a classist reading, the disconnectedness and distance in the social

The protagonist of this opening passage, presumably an academic, has a cynical tone when commenting on the arrival of students and their families. They describe this “spectacle” to be a “brilliant event” where “students greet each other with comic cries and gestures of sodden collapse”. Although this could be taken as it being a marvellous arrival of students, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old one, it is more likely to be the academic mocking the students. They have witnessed this “spectacle every twenty-one years”, indicating that they have witnessed this many times and is not amused as a result of its predictability, “as always”. The commentary provided by the protagonist emphasises their attitudes and views of those who they deemed

The socially accepted behaviour and self-presentation can be determined by analysing anyone, as they are all so strikingly similar that when they look around, they see “images of themselves in every direction”. After dropping off their children at college, the parents stand around near their cars, which is another symbol of their wealth, and when they look around, they see parts of themselves in others, as they are all a product of their self-perpetuating society. “They feel a sense of renewal, of communal recognition”, further highlighting their uniformity. All the parents are collectively referred to as a group, to emphasise their resemblance. The shared feeling of needing to conform that is shared by the parents is also shared by their children. The extensive list of branded items brought to college by the students indicates their own sense of conformity. It can be seen that this self-perpetuating culture is also cyclical, as the parents’ values and behaviours have been passed down to their children, and this will most likely be passed onto the next