The Theme Of Commercialism In White Noise By Don Delillo

â€Å"Life...Made better†, this is promising the slogan for Dash In convenience stores. It is a promise that stopping at their store will improve your life. It is a promise that you are not lying to yourself every time you step through those glass doors. In the book White Noise by Don DeLillo, readers experience the story of this kind of lie and it’s consequences. The story follows an introspective college professor and his dealings with his fear of death. It does so against the background of a busy family life, full of colorful characters. White Noise highlights the truths of humanity in a satirical fashion, expertly weaving the American dream into the troubled psyche of the main character, Jack. White Noise reveals that the modern tools of†¦show more content†¦Everything was fine, would continue to be fine, would eventually get better as long as the supermarket did not slip† (170). The supermarket is an analogy for the human spirit. It represents an und eniable marker of human growth, a reminder that humans are safer from death than ever. The supermarket protects people from the real world because it removes the barriers between humans and a basic component for survival, food. This erasure of a struggle to obtain food does not give humans more time to think because people welcome of the distraction of consumerism. Supermarkets may help ensure the physical survival of humans, but does nothing to improve peoples mental states. People cannot come to terms with death whilst buying a bag of pork rinds. Jack Gladney’s use his job as an armor against the world parallels the actions of people in real life. His thoughts about Hitler are almost like comfort objects to Jack. Hitler’s legacy makes Jack feel safer. Murray confirms this whilst talking to Jack about his imminent death, â€Å"‘Some people are larger than life. Hitler is larger than death’† (287). He reaches the crux of the problem in this statemen t. Jack’s fatal flaw is his reliance on this notorious historical figure to protect him from death. He sacrifices some of his own morals in his pursuit to become the most knowledgeable about Hitler. He overlooks the bad things Hitler has done because he needs to feel justified in his choice of study. This is