Family is strongest where objective reality is most likely to be misinterpreted. (82) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Delillo's portrait of the American family in his acclaimed novel White Noise is atypical. The narratology changes from a contented American family who initially appears to be close and have devoted relationships with each other, but later transforms into a much more fragmented family. Looking at Delillo's protagonist, narrator and father figure, Jack Gladney, and observing his relationships with various members of his family and with his work colleagues, one can perhaps come to suppose that Delillo is restructuring the notion of the American family dream . -fence, the American Dream family is not represented in White Noise; Delillo, on the other hand, thrives thanks to the dysfunctionality of the Gladneys. This unusual family becomes much more disjointed and dysfunctional as the narrative progresses, and two different questions arise: First, does Delillo challenge the vision of the traditional American family or perhaps offer a new, postmodern one. Second, what is the function of the fragmented American family? Within this essay I intend to break down the relationships of the Gladney family, focusing mainly on the protagonist, and therefore finding solutions to the questions posed above. The Gladney family resides in the small college town of Blacksmith where Jack Gladney is a professor and creator of a discipline entitled Hitler studies at the local college, sarcastically called College-on-the-Hill. Arnold Weinstein examines the idea of ​​the postmodern "Middle American" family and describes the Gladneys as "the 'new' family" who will have to deal with contemporary domestic issues such as "children from previous marriages, media presence, campus life, environmental threats, the adventures of consumerism' and the 'management of terror' (Weinstein 1993: 298) Among the postmodern issues listed above that infiltrate the character's life, Delillo also offers an escape from this dilemma in which he attempts. to reintroduce spirituality (in the form of consumerism) and reverses the parent-child divide. At the beginning of the novel Jack and Babette Gladney appear to be the ideal American couple; their relationship appears pleasant and happy mutual needs, Jack continually reassures Babette, and she supports his work. Babette "collects and cares for children, teaches a class in an adult education program, [and] belongs to a group of volunteers who read to the blind." (Delillo 1984:5) Jack describes his loving relationship with Babette as "a form of self-renewal and a gesture of custodial trust" in which love helps them "develop an identity secure enough to allow her to be entrusted to the care and protection of another". ' (Delillo 1984:29) But reading the narrative further, one discovers that the couple has no children of their own, in fact, all the children residing in Gladney's house are from both parents' previous marriages. Babette is actually Jack's fifth wife and the children who live under their roof, two are from Babette's previous marriage while the other three are from Jack. Ferarro refers to this complicated phenomenon as a "frightening symmetry" in which "each adult lives with a third or fourth spouse, a child from a previous marriage, a stepchild from one of the last spouse's previous marriages, and a stepdaughter from another previous marriage of the spouse.' (Ferarro 1991:16) Gladney's marriage is clearly not as coherent as it begins at the beginning of the novel. One reason may be that White Noise is labeledas a postmodern novel and the notion of the "American Dream family" is a form of grand narrative that postmodern writers avoid. The fragmentation of the family may be because Delillo offers a "new" type of American family as a reflection of this which he believed was happening in American culture during that time period. Although the Gladney family is so fragmented to the point of being individually focused, Delillo definitely portrays the Gladneys as a family that is constantly searching for connection with each other. A contextual example of this might be their ritualistic Friday night dinner routine in which the family unites through the chaos depicted on television: "That evening, a Friday, we gathered in front of the set, as was the custom and rule, with take- out Chinese. There were floods, earthquakes, mudslides... we had never been so attentive to our Friday assembly.'(Delillo 1984: 64)Family bonds in the face of natural disasters, their collective desensitization towards nature is similar to the current family structure . Each character is concerned with his own escape and personal identity. Unlike Jack, who cares for him, he does not allow his family to influence him intimately; Babette makes a continuous effort to keep him together the family One time this happens is in chapter five, when he reads out all the family horoscopes but Jack avoids listening, as he is obsessed with his own problems and thoughts. Delillo writes: 'At breakfast, Babette read all our horoscopes aloud, using her narrative voice. I tried to listen when it came to mine, even though I think I wanted to listen, I think...' (Delillo 1984:18) Above Babette's fun family ideals which she incorporates as a means of keeping her family together, Delillo he also highlights consumerism as a key point in keeping the family together. Through the purchase and consumption of branded products the family is pseudo-connected, similar to the families depicted in television commercials, in a place where important issues such as divorce and spirituality have been casually cast aside. And while embracing the media binds the family, it also represents their escape. Moses states that «for Delillo's characters, contemporary American “reality” has become completely mediated and artificial; theirs is a culture of global and seemingly total representation.' (Moses 1991:64) Escape through consumerism is linked to the idea of ​​advertising. By purchasing a specific product, a need created by advertisers is satisfied. So instead of focusing on real issues like Jack and Babette's necrophobia, the family uses both media and product consumerism as a method of escape. Both Jack and Babette Gladney are tormented by an unhealthy fear of dying that leads them to constantly talk about their lives. own death and the chances of who will die first. Death is the ultimate form of escape in the novel. Another possible form of escape that Delillo offers in White Noise – and which is compared to the nuclear family as an escape from real life – is the notion of the crowd. Jack summarizes this point in a lecture to Murray Jay Siskund's class. He emotionally addresses the students by saying: 'The crowds come to form a shield against their own death. Becoming a crowd means keeping death away. Separating yourself from the crowd means risking death as an individual, facing death alone. The crowds come mostly for this reason. They were there to be a crowd.' (Delillo 1984: 73) Crowds are therefore in the novel a strategic form of escape in which people can look beyond their personal concerns and form a kind of group mentality similar to thatof the Nazis. Gladney's affinity with Hitler goes much deeper than just a set subject at College-on-the-Hill. Looking at the character of Jack Gladney's relationship with Hitler studies from a psychological analysis, it is easy to see how work becomes his mechanism through which he escapes. Hitler and the study of Nazism are Gladney's form of escape from himself and his family. Gladney is so immersed in everything related to Hitler that sometimes we can't properly relate to his personal life. His affinity with Hitler could be metaphorically compared to raising a child. Murray Siskund highlights the parent-child relationship Gladney has with Hitler studies in chapter three, he says, “You have established a wonderful thing here with Hitler.” You created it, you cultivated it, you made it yours. No one on any faculty of any college or university in this part of the country can even say the word Hitler without a nod in your direction…he is now your Hitler. Gladney's Hitler. It must be deeply satisfying to you.'(Delillo 1984:11) Gladney's paternal affection towards Hitler studies is often more involved than that of his relationship with his children. Perhaps, in this "new" postmodern world portrayed by Delillo, the relationship between self and work is much stronger than traditional family values. The children who reside under Gladney's roof are all disconnected from their parents on one level, as they are the products of failed marriages. [2] Babette is more emotionally attached to the children than Jack. Delillo shows Babette's maternal response to her children - even though they are actually Jack's children - as emotional. This can be observed in the fifth chapter, when Jack Gladney admits to Murray Siskund how Babette collapsed when her daughter broke a bone in her hand at camp. She collapsed when Steffie called from the field with a broken bone in her hand. We had to drive all night. I found myself on the road to the lumber company. Babette cries." [Jack]'His daughter, far away, among strangers, in pain. Who wouldn't?' [Murray]'Not your daughter. My daughter." 'Extraordinary. I must love her.' (Delillo 1984:20) The fact that she was Jack's daughter and not Babette's, but still "went to pieces" shows her character's intense care or perhaps a lack of strength when it comes to remaining emotionally intact. Jack has an interesting and protective relationship with his son Heinrich, from his marriage to Janet Savory. Firstly, his son has a distinctly German name unlike the rest of the children and secondly, Gladney is more worried about Heinrich as Gladney thinks he may attract danger. (Heinrich plays long-distance chess with an inmate) Gladney says, “…I find I love him with an animal desperation, a need to take him under my coat and press him against my chest, to hold him there, to protect him.” . It seems to bring him danger. It accumulates in the air...' (Delillo 1984:25) Gladney's protective attitude towards Heinrich is unpretentious but at the same time comforting to him. The unconventional family relationship extends further in chapter seven when Gladney searches for a pornographic magazine so he can read erotic letters to his wife and Babette, goes to ask for some from his son who tells him to look downstairs. This provides a bizarre tension in the novel, although Jack expresses his affection for his son from a traditional protective perspective, he also looks at him as an adult. trashy magazine that Babette might read from... Wilder was there watching Heinrich do a physics experiment with steel balls and a salad bowl. Heinrich was wearing a terry dressing gown, a towel around his neck, another towel on his head. He told me to look downstairs.'(Delillo 1984: 30) Delillo isby pushing the parent-child relationship to the extreme, a usually comfortable situation in which parents and children do not easily (and freely) discuss anything related to intimacy is distorted. Neither Heinrich nor Jack express typical feelings of embarrassment or embarrassment, only the readers are left confused by the situation. Jack's relationship with his sons, especially Heinrich, does not fit the typical American Dream scenario, Delillo's absurd interpretation of the Brady Bunch is unconventional and uncomfortable. Jack Gladney doesn't know his wife takes pills, only Denise knows and what they are. From this we can perceive that Delillo may be presenting an inversion of the normal parent-child relationship. This inverted relationship can be explored by focusing on two segments of the novel: first, through the parents' willingness to follow the children's opinions or advice, and second, through the continued insistence on seeing the world in one way or another. "new" angle that is from a child's point of view. In chapter ten the conversation between Babette and Denise indicates the power of their relationship. It begins with Denise telling her mother that sugar-free gum is potentially cancerous. The normal response to a child informing a mother what the right thing to do is would be for the child to be scolded or dismissed, but Babette responds differently. She mutters, “You wanted me to chew sugarless gum, Denise. It was your idea... I'm happy to do it anyway... it's totally up to you. Either I chew gum with sugar and artificial colors or I chew sugarless and colorless gum which is bad for you...' (Delillo 1984:42) His capricious response is almost childish. They continue to argue like this: "I'm not a criminal," Babette said. “All I want to do is chew a pathetic bit of tasteless gum every now and then.” “Well, it's not that simple,” Denise said. “It's not even a crime.” I chew about two of those little pieces a day.''Well, you can't anymore.''Well, I can, Denise. I want. Chewing seems to relax me. You're making a fuss about nothing...''...go ahead and chew. Never mind the warning, I don't care.'(Delillo 1984:42-3) Denise and Babette are having a standard parent-child discussion, except that Delillo has altered the parent-child relationship. In theory, it should be Babette who is well informed and scolds Denise and not the other way around. The same situation occurs later in the text when the family discusses geography. (Delillo 1984: 80) The second topic I will talk about is the 'new' way of looking at the world presented in Delillo's novel through the voice of Murray Siskund. In most cultures, the elders of a community have sentimental and intellectual value. In White Noise there is a great emphasis on looking at things from a child's point of view. This point of view focuses on an innocent and non-opinionated way (without built-in stereotypes and clichés) of looking at family, the media and oneself. Without preconceptions, the world, perhaps from Delillo's postmodern point of view, therefore has the capacity to offer something more sacred. This is completely opposite to religious dogmas where the past is a vital connection and represents something sacred. In the novel, the media plays a large influencing role on how the characters react towards each other in society and adults are much more influenced by commercialization. Although later in the novel we see Denise uttering words of consumer culture in her sleep, as if the invariable influence of consumer culture has finally entered her subconscious. Murray Siskund is aware of how harmful powerful media influences (such as television) can be and expresses his opinion to Jack.