What strikes me about White Noise, among many things, is the
constant flux of optimism and pessimism, and pretty much everything in between,
among the characters. Jack Gladney is by
nature a relatively average person, who isn’t enthusiastic about much and who
relies on the much peppier Babette to lighten his mood. Jack’s alter ego, J.A.K. Gladney, on the
other hand, is much more sure of himself, much more positive, and has the
attitude like nothing bad can ever happen to someone like him. As the novel goes on, though, the characters become
much more pessimistic, and understandably so due to the literal black cloud of
toxic fumes hanging over their heads, and the constant fear of exposure or some
other tragic event happening. The
realization that Babette’s once sunny outlook on life is becoming more and more
clouded throws Jack into a tailspin, not knowing what to anchor his happiness
on anymore now that Babette is in a similar frame of mind.
Countering
the optimism and pessimism of Jack and Babette, the four children bring another
“ism” into the mix: realism. These
children are more anchored to reality than their parents are. They don’t have a constant black cloud
hanging over their heads, but they aren’t necessarily optimistic; they simply
assess the situation and adjust according to the way they know how. Steffie prefers to practice for another such
tragedy that could happen, Heinrich wants to take advantage of people’s fear to
educate them, Wilder simply observes and takes things as they come, and Denise
wants to know everything about the situation.
When the black cloud first appears, Jack simply denies its existence,
and Babette thinks it will all be fine, but the children all consider the
possibilities of the cloud’s arrival into their hometown and what they should
do about it. There seems to be an
element of role reversal going on as this novel progresses; in reality, the
children would be blissfully ignorant of a potentially harmful situation and
carry on, and the parents would be the ones to consider every facet of the
situation, further evidence that this postmodern work examines an alternative
to our reality coupled with very real personalities and emotions.
You're on the right track in noticing the very different reactions for adults/children. You might think further, though, about why this is important as a whole in terms of representation - what do these different approaches mean in the larger context of the novel? why can the children respond to the black cloud so differently?
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