I first decided to start reading White Noise by Don DeLillo because I liked the movie so much. Usually, when I read a book after watching the movie first, I never end up liking the book nearly as much as I like the movie. The book is always a little more boring, with more filler and fluff that seems unnecessary once you see the more compact storyline in the movie. Though this phenomenon often happens to me, it didn’t happen to me at all while reading White Noise. I haven’t finished the book yet, but even without having finished it, I will happily sing its praises. I’m not an avid reader, and usually find it hard to become engaged with a book quickly, but White Noise Engaged me immediately. While reading, I’ve found that the reason White Noise is such an interesting book and such a fun book to read is because of both the internal monologues and the external dialogues throughout the book.
White Noise by Don DeLillo follows the main character Jack, who specializes in hitler studies at the “college on the hill,” and his family through a series of wacky events. I know that seems like a weird way to describe the plotline of the book, but I think it's the best possible way to describe it. Somehow DeLillo fits multiple different absurd storylines into one book, all intertwined in some way. Some of the storylines include: “the Airborne Toxic Event,” a toxic leak that fills the town the Jack and his family live in with toxic chemicals, causing everyone to evacuate; a suspected drug habit in his wife, Babette; a cheating scandal in their marriage; hundreds of different storylines within “the college on the hill;” and a looming fear of death and technology throughout the book. This all might seem like a lot, but DeLillo pulls it all off seamlessly, and the reason for this is the incorporation of dialogue into the book.
White Noise is a completely absurd book, and DeLillo plays into this with his dialogue. Almost everything in White Noise is a satirical commentary on our world, but still manages to have many touching moments, and all of this is due to the dialogue between Jack and his family. Jack and his family are constantly rambling and ranting at each other, many times talking over each other or having multiple conversations at once. This makes the chaotic storylines and plot points even more chaotic, when every member of the family has something different to say and they’re all saying it. During the “Airborne Toxic Event,” Jack’s son, Heinrich is constantly reporting the new upcoming symptoms coming from the toxic waste and the names the media is coming up with to describe it. There are multiple arguments between Jack and Heinrich over whether the Toxic Event should be called a “Ploom” or a “Billowing Cloud,” while Jack's daughters are constantly psychosomatically developing each new symptom as it's being reported to them. No one is taking the event very seriously, the book seems to be making fun of it, signaling to the reader that we shouldn’t worry either.
While the dialogue highlights the absurdity of White Noise, it also highlights the sweet elements within the novel. The dialogue between Babette and Jack highlights how much they understand and care about each other, and how strong their relationship is, but it also highlights when their relationship isn’t as strong as it usually is, which is a useful plot device. Jack and Babette are both scared of death, and constantly bring it up to each other, competing about how much each one would miss the other if they died, and both hoping that they die first so as to avoid the turmoil that would come with their spouse dying. They’re always very open with each other, so when the plot gets to the point where both of them are hiding things from each other, the change in the relationship dynamic is very noticeable. When they hide things from each other, they get much more brief with the things they say to each other, a drastic shift from their usual rambling and oversharing. The chaos in their family dialogue also shows the comfort they all have with each other. They’re all completely comfortable with sharing what’s on their mind at any given moment, and all willing to listen. The way everyone in Jack’s family interacts with each other is so heartwarming you have no choice but to love every character despite any of their faults.
Not only does the dialogue in White Noise help build the character development and move the plot along, it also makes the story much more interesting to read. There is never a dull moment in White Noise, because it’s either being filled with a random side conversation or argument between the characters, or an internal monologue from Jack. This constant dialogue also is reminiscent of the title of the book, “White Noise.” The idea of white noise is constant throughout this novel, with many references to the TV being on in the background, or random words appearing at the end of paragraphs. The constant pandering dialogue and monologues serve as an homage to the title, filling the book with white noise of its own.
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