Consumerism and Fear of Death in Don DeLillo’s White Noise

Donald Richard Don DeLillo, a distinctive American writer has published numerous novels, several plays, essays and short stories. Considered as one of the last postmodernists especially with the publication of the novel White Noise (1989) Don DeLillo has covered a wide spectrum of subjects ranging from Impact of Television, Nuclear War, Mathematics, Sports, Advent of Digital Age, Economics, Global Terrorism and so on. As a great novelist of his generation he has captured the attention of the readers by his in-depth portrayal of degrading values of American family system through his writings. With the publication of White Noise (1989), a representative postmodern novel, DeLillo has highlighted the major theme that death lurks everywhere in the modern world and there is no escape from this harsh reality in spite of the advancements of technology. The novel has effortlessly combined social satire with metaphysical dilemma of the role of family at a time when the meaning of existence is under threat. Ironically the postmodern tendencies he has created in the novel are more prevalent now than in the 80s when he published the novel. The disintegrating family values, fear of death, simulations replacing realities, rampant consumerism, vagueness of identity, waves of radiation and quest for immortality are some of the themes that DeLillo has focused on which a modern reader can relate himself with very easily. DeLillo takes a look at all this with wit and ridicule. Some readers find the satirical portraits of contemporary society harsh and pessimistic but DeLillo has brilliantly navigated the issues with terse prose style and fast paced episodes capturing the interest of the readers.