Alice Turner
Critical Essay: White Noise
The fear of death is constant throughout the human race and is likely prevalent in many
individuals mind at any given point in time. The inevitable knowledge of an ending is part of what makes
the human race special, and all the more alive as explained by the main character, Jack Gladney, in
White Noise by Don Delillo. In this novel, Delillo uses the fear of death from different points of view to
connect all the characters in the book, as well as the reader and possibly the human race. Many of the
characters have individual outlooks on death and no two are exactly alike. It’s this fear that shapes
behavior of the character’s in the book, and reveals something about their personalities.
Jack Gladney portrays petrified fear of death. Because he is the main character, we often receive
reiterations of this fear throughout the novel.
“When I read obituaries I always note the age of the deceased. Automatically I relate this figure
to my own age. Four years to go, I think. Nine more years. Two years and I'm dead. The power of
numbers is never more evident than when we use them to speculate on the time of our
dying.”(98)
The pervasiveness of Jack’s fear is evident with this quote; the most important part of the obituary to
him is the number. He is more concerned about the relation of this data to his own death, and what kind
of statistic he will become; he thinks of being young or old at death, having a sudden or expected death,
a long, well-lived life or one of emptiness.
 Here I would discuss more of the depth of jack’s fear, and compare it before and
after he becomes affected by the toxic chemical, and how his behavior changes
because of this event
Murray, Jack’s friend from the college has a more philosophical and scientific view of death. He sees the
supermarket as spiritual, as a microcosm of the human race in which people come close to this
inevitability. Along with this unique view of supermarkets, he has a unique view of death.
"Fear is unnatural. Lightning and thunder are unnatural. Pain, death reality, these are all
unnatural. We can’t bear these things as they are. We know too much. So we resort to
repression, compromise and disguise. This is how we survive in the universe. This is the natural
language of the species." (289)
Murray Talks with scientific, psychological terms to explain death in humanity. Of course these things he
is discussing are natural occurrences, yet our almost paranormal knowledge as a species is not seen
elsewhere in the natural world. Therefore, our knowledge, our almost all-knowing status in the animal
kingdom is unnatural and almost impossible to deal with.
 Here I would go on to talk about Murray’s observations and his position in the novel
as unbiased by death, and almost unaffected by it as if an overall observer of nature
 I would also discuss how this view of death makes Murray more accepting of death
as a whole, and how his behavior is affected by it
While Heinrich, Jack’s son, doesn’t directly address death, his point of view is very philosophical. He
questions everything around him, including the reality of rain. His view of time and relativity is
Einsteinian-esque, and this makes his words very deliberate and thought-out.
''My truth means nothing. . . . Is there such a thing as now? 'Now' comes and goes as soon as you
say it.'' (23)
Heinrich does not seem to fear death, but sees it as an inevitable fate not worth worrying over. He sees
life as a random occurrence, and cannot seem to decipher the meaning. In his mind, the truth, his
reality, could be in his mind, the things around him could be a fiction of his own making. His locus of
control in neither internal nor external, life is random event that will randomly end, which no one can
change, not even a supreme being.
 I would discuss here how this view of life causes Heinrich to question everything, and
also distance himself from those around him
 I would discuss how this lack of fear can also influence behavior as much as the
petrifying fear Jack, his father, has