ENGL 3090
12 December 2011
The White Noise Affairs: Uncovering the Infidelity
A man’s jealousy has been hypothesized to focus on cues to sexual infidelity because a long-term partner’s sexual infidelity jeopardizes his certainty in paternity, thereby placing him at risk of investing in another man’s offspring. A woman’s jealousy has been hypothesized to focus more on cues to the long-term diversion of a man’s commitment, such as his emotional involvement with another woman. (Buss et al 125)
Scientific studies have shown that women fear that their partner will become emotionally involved with another person, while men fear that their partner will engage in sexual intercourse with someone. In White Noise , the reality of each of these fears is confirmed. It is interesting to note, however, that Jack is already “investing in another man’s offspring” since he and Babette do not have any children together, but sets of children with former spouses. By lacking the need to be certain of his paternity to Babette’s previous children, Jack does not follow the traditional motives of fear that this model inspires. One study found that “men are more likely than women to have ‘sexual-only’ affairs, and women are more likely than men to have ‘emotional-only’ affairs” (Atkins et al 736). Essentially, the type of infidelity that each gender fears is the type of infidelity that his or her respective gender commits more frequently. Thus, Jack and Babette engage in the types of infidelity that are not expected of them by society, but of the sort that the opposite sex have been conditioned to fear.
I feel that the true climax of White Noise is the disclosure of Babette’s affair with Mr.
Gray because the revelation of her infidelity changed the way that I perceived the novel. This indiscretion changed my perceptions because it conflicted with the image that Jack had created

of Babette. Following her confession, the only thing that Jack focuses on more than the “staticky, unfinished” (230) image of Mr. Gray and his wife is the imminent threat of death. After the
Airborne Toxic Event, a life-threatening chemical spill, he continually dwells on the fact that
“death has entered” (137) his body and he is dying. While many readers are familiar with the sexual infidelity that Babette commits within the novel, I contend that Jack commits emotional infidelity; it is the all-encompassing, paralyzing fear of death that these characters both possess which drives them to have these affairs.
Deconstructing Babette’s “Capitalist Transaction”
After becoming aware of Babette’s adulterous indiscretion, I was devastated. I shared
Jack’s pain and, like Jack, began to question what “the point of Babette” (184) was. I remembered an instance, early in the novel, in which Babette tells Jack that she will no longer read “erotic passages” (28) that contain certain terms:
“I will read,” she said, “But I don’t want you to choose anything that has men inside women, quote-quote, or men entering women. ‘I entered her.’ ‘He entered me.’ We’re not lobbies or elevators. ‘I wanted him inside me,’ as if he could crawl completely in, sign the register, sleep, eat, so forth. Can we agree on that? I don’t care what these people do as long as they don’t enter or get entered.”
“Agreed.”
“‘I entered her and began to thrust.’”
“I’m in total agreement,” I said.
“‘Enter me, enter me, yes, yes.’”
“Silly usage, absolutely.”
“‘Insert yourself, Rex. I want you inside me, entering hard, entering deep, yes, now, oh.’”
I began to feel an erection stirring. How stupid and out of context. (29)
Why does Babette disagree with this usage? Such a conversation must happen for a reason. I reflected that this same argument comes up later in the novel when Babette is revealing her affair with Mr. Gray, a.k.a. Willie Mink, to Jack:

“You call this an indiscretion, as if we haven’t had a revolution in frank and bold language. Call it what it was, describe it honestly, give it the credit it deserves. You entered a motel room, excited by its impersonality, functionalism, and bad taste of furnishing. You walked barefoot on the fire-retardant carpet. Mr.
Gray went around opening doors, looking for a full-length mirror. He watched you undress. You lay on the bed, embracing. Then he entered you.”
“Don’t use that term. You know how I feel about that usage.”
“He effected what is called entry . In other words he inserted himself. One minute he was fully dressed, putting the car rental keys on the dresser. The next minute he was inside you.”
“No one was inside anyone. That is stupid usage. I did what I had to do. I was remote. I was operating outside myself.” (185; emphasis mine)
Jack seems to have hit a nerve as he introduces this terminology into their conversation. Perhaps he has found the root of Babette’s displeasure with these terms. Although Babette was “operating outside herself”, her memories of the actual intercourse may be difficult for her to endure. Laura
Barrett argues that “language is merely representational” (98) and “words . . . are copies without originals”, or simulacra (97). Following this logic, if all Babette can remember from her affair with Mr. Gray is “the TV up near the ceiling” (186), then these words have no connection to an original instance in which she was “entered”. Thus, the word denotes an indiscretion which
Babette is ashamed of, but cannot connect to an actual event.
Babette informs Jack that her affair with Mr. Gray was nothing more than a “capitalist transaction” (185) and the adultery she committed was a means to an end; she was willing to give her body to another man in order to ease her fear of death. As Babette claims that she was distant from her actions, these terms that she now abhors have become nothing but simulacra to her. These words only remind her of her unfaithfulness to Jack, her fear, and the desperation she had to eradicate her fear. Jack notices that “sadness showed in her eyes” (185) and realizes how desperate she must have been to get the Dylar, the magic little pill that can erase the fear of death from one’s mind.
Babette’s dependence on Dylar, however, may just be another contributing factor to her

dislike of the terms “enter” and “insert” because, as James Berger points out, “[u]nder the influence of Dylar, a person cannot distinguish between word and thing” (352). Although
Babette’s intake of Dylar is vastly smaller than that of Willie Mink’s, it is possible that the drug affects her in the same manner. If this is the case, then Jack’s retelling of what he imagines to have happened inside of the motel room affects Babette more deeply than could have been imagined. Since she has no desire to have sexual intercourse with Willie Mink, it is safe to assume that she does not wish to relive these moments.
While Babette is possibly traumatized by these terms, Jack is traumatized by the realization that his wife has been unfaithful. Upon experiencing a traumatic event, the language of a “witness and survivor . . . can be seen as an awful, almost nonlinguistic mix of metaphor, literal repetition, and indexical pointing that in some sense conveys the . . . event without being able to represent it” (Berger 346). Berger references that the Airborne Toxic Event is the event in the novel that deeply affects Jack, but I would argue that Babette’s confession is more traumatic as he cannot seem to shake the image of his wife with another man. All of these reactions can be accounted for as Jack learns of Babette’s adultery. He cannot seem to talk to her without using the terms that she absolutely loathes; he catalogues the actions that took place between Babette and Mr. Gray; and if Jack is using these terms metaphorically, it is taking a further stab at his wife who demands that these words be used literally.
While Babette’s dislike of these words could have developed for any one of these reasons, they all stem from her affair with Mink. She would never have been unfaithful to Jack if it weren’t for her desperation to escape her fear of death, something that she claims to have suffered from for about a year. Unfortunately, Jack shares this fear as well.

Behind the Infidelity: Jack’s Emasculation
The fear of death is a theme that figures prominently in White Noise . Cornel Bonca comments that “white noise” is “contemporary man’s deepest expression of his death fear” (27).
Jack expresses his death fear by seeking comfort through various emotional affairs on a regular basis. Jack’s question, “Who will die first?” (15) is echoed throughout the novel and followed up by the realization that neither he nor his wife truly wants to die. Babette’s fear of death is so great that she has an affair with another man in order to escape her death fear—through Dylar.
While readers are very aware of Babette’s reasons for having an affair, Jack’s reasons are not so obvious.
1
So, why does Jack feel the need to commit emotional infidelity on a regular basis? I argue that Jack craves validation because he feels emasculated by his family. Jeanne
Hamming agrees that Jack suffers from a “crisis of masculinity” (27) and points out that the characteristics of his life “[alienate] Jack from traditional categories of masculine behavior that rely on images of the male body as rugged, hard, and impenetrable” (27). This notion is demonstrated through Jack’s dependence on his academic image. He relies on his dark glasses and academic robe to portray him as a masculine figure while at the College on the Hill.
Babette’s father, Vernon Dickey, outright questions Jack’s masculinity. Upon Vernon’s first appearance in the novel, Jack perceives:
He glanced around the room, trying to spot something that needed replacing or repair. Such flaws were mainly an occasion for discourse . . . There were times when he seemed to attack me with such terms like ratchet drill and whipsaw. He saw my shakiness in such matters as a sign of some deeper incompetence or stupidity . . . What could be more useless than a man who couldn’t fix a dripping faucet—fundamentally useless, dead to history, to the message in his genes? (234)
1 As detailed earlier, Babette “offered [her] body” (184) as a means to an end. She had no sexual interest or attraction to Willie Mink. Her only interest was in obtaining Dylar to ease her overwhelming fear of death.

Although this perception is skewed by Jack’s beliefs, I get the feeling that Vernon has used some of these very phrases in conversation with Jack previously. Despite the discrepancy, it is clear that Vernon makes Jack feel inferior in terms of masculinity. Karen Weekes also agrees that
“Vernon threatens his son-in-law’s masculine capabilities” (291). For this reason, it does not come as much of a shock to the readers when he presents Jack with a gun. “In your whole life as a man in today’s world, have you ever owned a firearm?” (241) Vernon asks him, clearly questioning Jack’s manhood. Jack realizes as he stares at the gun that it is “the ultimate device for determining one’s competence in the world” (242). Weekes explains that Jack’s thoughts are
“depicting a stereotypically male sense of ‘competence and well-being and personal worth’ that would manifest itself in power and the ability to commit violence” (292). Many men compensate for their lack of masculinity by owning a gun. By presenting Jack with the gun, Vernon is suggesting that there is a lack of masculinity to compensate for.
However, Jack does not need the gun to compensate for his lack of masculinity because he validates himself through his various emotional affairs. Jack’s major source of validation stems from Hitler. His stepdaughter Denise questions Hitler’s greatness since “[t]hey lost the war” (63). Jack responds, “. . . it’s not a question of greatness. It’s not a question of good and evil. I don’t know what it is. Look at it this way. Some people always wear a favorite color.
Some people carry a gun. Some people put on a uniform and feel bigger, stronger, safer. It’s in this area that my obsessions dwell” (63). In this passage, Jack confesses that he is compensating for his masculinity through his involvement with Hitler, who makes him feel “bigger, stronger, safer”. Hamming agrees with the assessment that “[t]his passage reveals the relationship between
Jack’s incessant attacks of anxiety and his need to feel ‘bigger, stronger, safer’” (31). His obsession is essentially his need to find validation of his manhood.

Luckily for Jack, “the world offers an abundance of systems and structures that promise to confound mortality and deliver fulfillment” (Cowart 78). What Cowart points out in this statement is that Jack’s validation not only makes him feel more masculine but also serves to protect him from his death fear. According to Bonca, “[through] Jack’s immersion in Hitler studies . . . his own death-fear is made puny” (38). Perhaps Jack’s fear of death stems from the
“crisis of masculinity” that he suffers from.
Jack’s Infidelity
While Babette clearly commits sexual infidelity in her “capitalist transaction” with
Willie Mink, Jack commits emotional infidelity repeatedly. The readers are gradually introduced to the various figures who take this role in Jack’s life. The first instance in which he demonstrates this emotional infidelity is with an androgynous machine. The fact that he is unfaithful with a machine is important because it demonstrates that he has no sexual interest in these affairs, but is only seeking validation. Jack informs us:
In the morning I went to the bank. I went to the automated teller machine to check my balance. I inserted my card, entered my secret passcode, tapped out my request. The figure on the screen roughly corresponded to my independent estimate, feebly arrived at after long searches through documents, tormented arithmetic. Waves of relief and gratitude flowed over me. The system had blessed my life. I felt its support and approval . . . What a pleasing interaction. I sensed that something of deep, personal value, but not money, not that at all, had been authenticated and confirmed. (46; emphasis mine)
It is important to note that the terms “entered” and “inserted” appear in the beginning of this passage. As with many of Jack’s indiscretions, these words appear as implications of emotional infidelity. Unlike Babette, these terms seem to arouse Jack, even when they are used out of context. Thus, it is appropriate that, in a scene portraying infidelity, these words are used. The only thing that is missing from this scene is Jack’s own capitalistic orgasm. However, Jack does

not wish to gain sexual gratification from the ATM, but emotional validation.
2
This fact is apparent as Jack details the “waves of relief and gratitude” that flow over him and the “support and approval” that he receives from the ATM. Often, people are unfaithful because they do not feel appreciated by their spouses and they, in turn, seek validation elsewhere. Thus, Jack’s feeling that “something of deep, personal value . . . had been authenticated and confirmed” is obviously the validation that he wants, needs, and receives from the machine.
Jack finds validation consistently through Hitler. Through several marriages, Hitler has always been there for him. When Jack is talking to Tweedy, one of his ex-wives, she asks him,
“How is Hitler?” (89), as if he was some young woman who broke up their marriage. In this same fashion, Jack responds, “Fine, solid, dependable” (89), seemingly implying that these are things that Tweedy is not. Jack also has a memento of Hitler with him at nearly all times. When he is not talking about Hitler, he is carrying around his “dog-eared copy of Mein Kampf” (95).
He must have this token of love with him at all times, even when he is supposed to be spending time with his family. He has the book sitting next to him during the Christmas holidays (95); he takes it with him when the family goes out to dinner (57); and it is “clutched to his stomach” as he welcomes his father-in-law to his and Babette’s home (233).
Although, in a sense, Hitler is always around, Jack feels that his affair remains undisclosed. This belief is the reason why Jack is so shocked when Murray comments on his involvement with Hitler. Murray mentions to him, “work harder on your Hitler” (146), in
2 Many critics feel that Jack’s interaction with the ATM is seen as either a religious experience or a comment on man’s relationship to technology. However, these interpretations do not conflict with my main point because both arguments consider Jack’s need to be validated in terms of his emotional needs. Susana S. Martins notes, “[Jack] approaches the machine with a sense of inadequacy” and “he is not merely interacting with the machine he stands in front of: he experiences the transaction as a much more abstract relation” (92). This suggests that he receives fulfillment from his interaction with the machine. Karen Weekes makes the claim that this scene “suggest[s] that materialism and commercialism have become a new source of meaning” (289). She feels that consumerism has replaced religion in America. Weekes’ interpretation shows that he is seeking his meaning from this machine, and essentially is comforted and validated by the experience.

response to Jack’s devastation that death “has entered” him (137). He immediately “look[s] at him” as if to examine the extent of his suspicions and wonders to himself, “[h]ow much did
[Murray] know?” (146). The anxiety that Jack shows at the possibility of being found out shows that he has guilt for the emotional infidelity that he engages in.
Despite any feelings of guilt that Jack may suffer from, he commits emotional infidelity repeatedly. After his brief introduction to the SIMUVAC technician during the Airborne Toxic
Event, Jack realizes, “I wanted this man on my side. He had access to data. I was prepared to be servile and fawning if it would keep him from dropping casually shattering remarks about my degree of exposure and chances for survival” (134). What Jack is describing here is putting aside his own feelings and desires to increase his chances of survival. His behavior and willingness to be subservient in this instance mirrors Babette’s dependence on Mr. Gray, her willingness to do what she “had to do”.
Jack begins to butter up the technician by asking questions and appearing interested in his work. “That’s quite an armband you’ve got there,” Jack gushes to the man, “What does
SIMUVAC mean? Sounds important” (134). He is blatantly flirting with the technician as if it would affect his “chances for survival”. Unfortunately, his attempts at pleasing the SIMUVAC technician—“a gaunt young man who seemed suspicious of conversation that strayed outside certain unspecified guidelines” (133)—seem to fail. Jack grows anxious as the technician becomes interested in his history displayed on the computer screen. “Did he know about my wives, my involvement with Hitler, my dreams and fears?” (135) Jack wonders to himself. He resigns himself to the horrible realization, “I’ve got death inside me” (144). Instead of receiving validation, Jack begins to feels incredibly vulnerable.
These feelings of vulnerability and inadequacy increase as Jack acknowledges to himself

repeatedly, “Death has entered. It is inside you” (137). This knowledge affects Jack deeply. He feels violated and betrayed. Death has essentially raped him. Despite his attempts to ward off death, it has still managed to enter his body against his will. He feels that the emotional affairs he has engaged in should have protected him. Hamming asserts, “[h]is fear intensifies when his body is exposed , even penetrated , by the toxic chemical by-product, Nyodene D. Exposure to the chemical leaves Jack feeling self-alienated and out of control” (30;emphasis mine). Although
Hamming does not make the claim, as I have, that death has raped Jack, she uses words that point to this conclusion. Regardless of the possible coincidence of this use, Jack’s feelings of self-alienation and loss of control are feelings that a victim of sexual abuse may experience.
Following the Airborne Toxic Event, Jack begins to see his doctor, Dr. Chakravarty, more frequently to reassure himself that he is safe from death. At the sudden raise of his potassium levels, he is sent to see a specialist at Autumn Harvest Farms for testing. After these tests, he is interviewed by a young doctor who admits to “being new at this” (263), a piece of information that seems to please Jack. For the duration of the interview, Jack seems to answer the questions in the manner that he feels the doctor wants him to. “What do people usually say?”
(264), he asks at one point. He wants to make sure that everything he says and does pleases the doctor to ensure that he will be provided with the emotional validation that he craves.
Jack reflects in the middle of the interview, “It seemed to be going well. I was heartened to see how well it was going. I turned down his offer of tea which seemed to please him . . . I felt tremendously reassured and grateful” (265). Once again, Jack can be witnessed seeking validation from outside of his home. Every answer that Jack gives seems to be exactly what the doctor wants to hear. “Yes,” Jack thinks to himself, “Reward my virtue. Give me life” (265). Just as Jack is beginning to feel fulfilled, the doctor reminds him of the unwanted physical entrance

that death has made into his body. Jack loses control of the conversation as the doctor informs him of the “nebulous mass” (266) that is inside of him. The doctor has betrayed Jack by reminding him of his vulnerable state.
Jack finally admits his unwanted encounter with death to Babette after she has told him of her unfaithfulness. He confesses to her:
“There’s something I promised myself I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Can it wait until morning?” she said.
“I’m tentatively scheduled to die . . . it is in the works.”
I went on to tell her about my exposure . . . I told her about the computer technician, the way he’d tapped into my history to produce a pessimistic massive tally . . . I tried to explain how hard I’d struggled to keep the news from her. But after her own revelations, this seemed the wrong kind of secret to keep.” (192).
Because Jack does not disclose his actual dialogue, but only “tell[s]” what he has disclosed to
Babette, the reader is left to decide for himself what words were used. I can only imagine that he also details all his dirty secrets, his numerous “affairs”, in this admission when he “told her about the computer technician”.
Although it is possible that Jack has confessed his affairs to Babette, he chooses to continue committing emotionally infidelity. He engages in his final affair with none other than
Willie Mink. According to Hamming, “Jack resorts to violence to defend his masculine honor after he discovers Babette’s affair with Will[ie] Mink” (35); however, this masculine honor is questioned as the scene unfolds. Upon encountering Mink, the following conversation ensues:
“By coming in here, you agree to a certain kind of behavior,” Mink said.
“What behavior?”
“Room behavior. The point of rooms is that they’re inside . No one should go into a room unless he understands this. People behave one way in rooms, another way in streets, park and airports. To enter a room is to agree to a certain kind of behavior . . . It is the point of rooms. No one should enter a room not knowing the point. There is an unwritten agreement between the person who enters a room and the person whose room had been entered . . . A room is inside . . .”
I agreed completely. It made perfect sense. (292; emphasis mine)

As mentioned earlier, the terms “enter” and “inside” are signposts for Jack’s intimate moments with others; these words act as clues for what is about to occur. This scene reflects Jack and
Babette’s conversation earlier in the novel by employing the terms that the couple agrees are used stupidly in their erotic literature. The contrast between this conversation and the prior conversation is that Mink seems in favor of the terms, while Babette is mocking them. Ironically,
Jack agrees with both viewpoints. To make the connection between these two conversations more apparent, Mink also says, in reference to their sexual acts, “I told her a room is inside . Do not enter a room not agreeing to this. This is the point . . .” (296). Throughout these two passages, Mink says these words repeatedly. The effect of this overuse would be enough to make anybody dislike them.
Immediately following this conversation, Jack shoots Mink to “defend his masculine honor”. Mink ends up shooting Jack as well and the reality of Jack’s actions weighs heavily on him. Jack reflects, “With the restoration of the normal order of matter and sensation, I felt I was seeing him for the first time as a person” (299). Jack resolves that he must save Mink. As he begins to do so, he feels “virtuous” and “stately” (299). He is attempting to validate himself once again by saving Mink’s life. Jack details:
I decided to attempt mouth-to-mouth . . . The awkwardness and grim intimacy of the act made it seem all the more dignified under the circumstances. All the larger, more generous . . . His eyes followed me down. Perhaps he thought he was about to be kissed. I savored the irony.
. . . I felt large and selfless, above resentment. This was the key to selflessness, or so it seemed to me as I knelt over the wounded man . . . (299-300)
It is fitting that Jack mentions irony in this passage as he claims to be selfless in his actions and yet is praising himself for them. Jack also describes saving Mink as an intimate moment, which shows us that he is fulfilling his own emotional needs through this seemingly redemptive act.

After they reach the hospital, Jack even admits to himself, “I was growing fond of him” (301).
Since Jack has had his own emotional fling with Mink, it is easy for him to overlook the fact that
Babette slept with him.
In the end, Jack seems to have forgiven Babette for her sexual infidelity because he realizes that he is just as guilty as she is of being unfaithful. While these two types of infidelity differ in appearance, they can be equally destructive to a relationship. Despite the damage done, the Gladneys are able to salvage their marriage. In proving that Jack engages in emotional infidelity and exploring the depths of Babette’s sexual infidelity, I have found that, while these characters commit infidelity in different ways, they hope to achieve the same goal: to ease their fear of death.

Works Cited
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