Brought together from different marriages, different mothers and fathers, the nuclear family in Don DeLillo's White Noise is nothing other than influenced and constructed by modernity. This explanation of a typical American lifestyle does not examine the simplicity of everyday life but rather the influence of external sensory impact on the family unit. The "noise" that surrounds and overwhelms the modern family separates it from broader, more universal issues that are confused by the constant bombardment of information and confusion. Life and death become nothing more than commodities, information, thrown into the slew of images, sounds and movements involved in modern life. TV, radio, food, toxic waste envelop the family, separating it from universal understanding to protect it and, paradoxically, destroy it. For Jack and his wife, the fear of death is all they have left to survive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Modern life, the implications of technology, capitalism, and progress separate the typical family unit from philosophical and spiritual understandings such as the meanings of life and death. The toxic cloud, spreading its poison over Iron City and its surroundings, immediately affects the community and the family unit in such a way that the technology overwhelms humanity. Heinrich achieves his fifteen minutes of fame in the Red Cross camp where he discusses the terrible fate of the victims of Nyodene D.. His father asks: "Was he finding himself, learning to determine his worth by the reactions of others? Was it possible that from turmoil and from the wave of this terrible event would he learn to make his way in the world?” (131). The cloud of harmful and deadly chemicals was humanity's construction; the nuclear family is pushed and stimulated by this cloud. Their very interactions, personal goals, and attitudes are drastically altered by a modern, man-made error. Technology, as a modern institution, literally places a wall between family members due to the arrival of this discouraging gaseous smog. Jack looks at Heinrich in amazement; his son has completely transformed into the tour guide, the all-powerful master of knowledge of Nyodene D.. The cloud has affected him so much that his own family cannot recognize him from the boy engaging in a game of chess with a convicted murderer . Jack acknowledges this change when he comments, "I didn't want him to see me there. It would make him embarrassed, it would remind him of his former life as a sullen, runaway boy" (131). The gloomy and fugitive boy, if he had not been impressed by the overwhelming socio-technological event that surrounded him, would have remained just as his father had initially perceived him as a rather introverted, literal, argumentative and very intelligent creature. With the volatile substance, however, the family was altered. External, man-made forces are implicated in the destruction of the human social network. Television, perhaps, is the most used tool in DeLillo's commentary. The beautiful scene of the family gathered around the set watching the wife and mother give instructions on posture is one of the most disturbing scenes in the book. The volume is turned down and the image of this woman gesticulating and moving her lips creates such an attraction, like the human fascination with a car accident, that any pretense of family disappears. Technology and modernity have physically separated the family, the face that remains on the set evokes shock. “Confusion, fear, amazement poured across our faces,” Jack says. "What did it mean? What was she doing there in black and white, framed by formal borders? She was dead,disappeared, disembodied? Was this her spirit, her secret self, a two-dimensional facsimile liberated from the power of technology, left free to glide across wavebands, through energy levels, pausing to wave at us from the fluorescent screen?" (104). Because Babette she is placed in this box of fluorescence and light, her family cannot understand who she is, where she is, or even whether she is alive. The universal understanding of death after life is confused here; Jack and his children see Babette, but not they can conceive of his life as "framed by formal boundaries." he breaks out of his sphere into a technological world where boundaries are non-existent, life is made of "wavebands," "energy levels" and essentially, white noise. has become inconceivable, the family does not maintain the spatial capacity to see Babette in such a position, confined but emancipated by technology The emancipation of technology, while stunning the conception of the nuclear family in Babette's situation on TV, also leads the family to. new levels of modern experience. The continuous flow of information can negatively reform the family unit; however, modernity can also sweeten it. The commodification of family life becomes mainstream in DeLillo's novel, offering the idea that modernity can both help and destroy community. When Jack suddenly feels expansive, meaning he wants to shop until he drops, he recognizes the freedom and happiness that surrounds him, his family, and his community in the middle of the mall. "When I couldn't decide between two T-shirts, they encouraged me to buy both. When I said I was hungry, they fed me pretzels, beer, souvlaki? They were my guides to endless well-being. People swarmed through the boutiques and clothing stores? We could smell chocolate, popcorn, cologne; we could smell carpets and furs, hanging salamis and deadly vinyls. I was finally one of them, shopping? reflective surface" (83). The family, united by the love of products, the hunt for raw materials, shows its nuclear essence during this shopping trip. However, the very fact that shopping itself brings the family to a higher essence of being proves that the modern nuclear family is simply a construct of the modern lifestyle to which they succumb. Again and again, Jack sees himself and his family reflected in the surfaces of TV monitors, in glass, in chrome. Their well-being is commodified to such an extent that happiness is constructed from the things around them. As Jack explains, "I became rich, I discovered new aspects of myself, I identified a person whose existence I had forgotten. Brightness established itself around me" (84). The person whose existence he had forgotten was brought back to life only through the purchase of worldly goods. The “vivid and happy transactions” now have a “human hum” (84). Humanity has merged with technology to the point that human existence is nothing without the white noise that embodies it. Technology and capitalism go hand in hand, as Jack continues to find self-fulfillment in the modernity around him. The family remains intact as long as the necessary noises remain the same. The television continues to flicker senselessly, the radio chatters endlessly, the ATM always issues crisp banknotes to the viewer. As he says in the mall, "These sums poured down on my skin like so much rain. These sums came back to me in the form of existential credit" (84). “Existential Credit” demonstrates how money is an investment in the mind, an investment in the happiness of one's family unit. They watch the bills slip from their hands, create ainstant gratification in a purchase and retreat into the dull roar of contentment. His interactions with the ATM are of a euphoric state; he has such faith in the electronic system that receiving money from his gut is nothing less than an epiphany. “Waves of relief and gratitude flowed over me. The system had blessed my life. Did I feel its support and approval? I felt that something deep and personal—value, but not money, not at all—had been authenticated and confirmed ? But we agreed, at least for now. His life, his family, are not influenced by money; rather, the entire network has created a universal harmony that surpasses the larger issues of life and death. Although Jack and Babette are both constantly threatened by impending doom, this moment of happiness at the ATM transcends that humanity and constructs a new reality of modernity. In the same way that Babette becomes addicted to the radio, Jack finds "personal value" from a car. Both are completely influenced and subverted by the power of technology, to the point that it influences their understanding of death and turns it into an overwhelming fear. According to Murray, death parallels modern progress and technology. Death is intrinsically connected to everyone's life. but it continues to grow in stature and importance the more it is deconstructed. "We know it intimately. But it continues to grow, to acquire breadth and scope, new outlets, new passages and means. The more we learn, the more it grows" (150). Like technology, the more humans discover about death, the bigger it becomes in their lives. Death overwhelms Babette and Jack's psyches, scares Steffie immensely during the "toxic event," and doesn't even phase Heinrich as he considers his best friend's fate in a cage of snakes. The family's understanding of death has been distorted to such an extent by technology that the emotions surrounding the inevitability of death are completely distorted, Dylar, is perhaps the most obvious distortion of humanity by technology. The family itself is seemingly distorted by Babette's actions with "Mr. Gray." He repeatedly sleeps with the elusive project manager if only to garner some drug-induced understanding in his fear of death. Willy, so overwhelmed by his own discovery and fall, stuffs handful after handful of Dylar into his mouth as Jack approaches him with the gun. The whole idea of ​​death at this point is so ridiculous and distorted that it becomes comical. Technology has so changed the family and the individual's conception of death and life, that the only reality is an advanced polymer shell containing a drug. a cutting-edge concentration gradient. Jack feebly attempts to combat the influence of modernity on his understanding of death by walking around the house throwing away old pieces of trash. Meanwhile, he sees a connection between the merchandise and his twisted view of the world; follow him in wonder, as impressed by modernity as he is. The continuous white noise of the radio and TV, the bright packaging of the products incessantly assault their senses; Jack somehow discovers that old coat hangers, dirty laundry, bent boxes and battered toys are contributing to his downfall. The family senses an inevitability, especially as the girls follow him around the house in "respectful silence." Referring to old possessions, Jack says, “They had dragged me down, making escape impossible” (295). Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay The image of Wilder riding his tricycle through traffic.