6. “We have come together (from the North, from the South, from Susan’s farm, from
Louis’s house of business) to make one thing, not enduring—for what endures—but
seen by many eyes simultaneously.” (Virginia Woolf, The Waves). Discuss how ONE
text studied on this module represents the relationship between the individual and
society.
White Noise – Jack and society – individual as part of society? Society as an
invention of humans.
9. “‘What does SIMUVAC mean? Sounds important.’ ‘Short for simulated evacuation.
A new state program they’re still battling over funds for’.” (Don DeLillo, White Noise):
Write an essay on the representation of social reality in ONE novel studied on this
module.
Representation of social reality:
“images and electronic representations replace direct experience” (346)
“media-saturated society” (347)
Jack “attempts to preserve earlier notions of an authentic and coherent identity by
observing the tribalistic rituals of family life” (348)
Baudrillard, DeLillo's "White Noise," and the End of Heroic Narrative
Leonard Wilcox
Page [346] of 346-365
The representation of social reality in White Noise
 The nature of white noise
 Simulacra and the media Baudrillard
 Lack of reality/ hyperreality – tv screen Babette
 Simulation becoming more real than reality – desert of the real
 Jack’s experience with death/ computers/ numbers/ statistics
Even the title White Noise gives an indication of the highly media-saturated world in
which the novel is set. The idea of the media infiltrating society in such a way that
this background noise is a constant presence is central to Delillo’s novel.
Baudrillard’s ideas of the simulacra and hyperreality are also explored in White
Noise, along with the idea that simulation is becoming more ‘real’ than reality. This
can be seen through Jack’s experience with death – he is merely a statistic on a
computer screen, but his impending death is somehow real to him, even though he
feels fine.