Regardless how unique and unparalleled individuals throughout society may seem, there is one inevitable commonality that all of humanity must encounter: death. Don DeLillo presents the inevitability of death through the Gladney family in his post-modern novel White Noise. Through the journey and characterization of protagonist Jack Gladney, readers are capable of recognizing how uncomfortable the subject of death truly is, as well as how individuals repress their fear of dying. However, DeLillo’s also focuses intensely on other aspects of American society, such as consumerism and humanity’s impact on nature, through his unique implementation of literary elements. Analyzing DeLillo’s White Noise through the Marxist, psychoanalytic, environmentalist, …show more content…
According to _______, a false consciousness is defined as people’s acceptance of an unfair social system without protesting or questioning. The Gladneys are a part of an unfair system because they are being unconsciously influenced by the bourgeoisie’s money and production. Proletariat families invest in unnecessary items that they are convinced they need through marketing and advertisement, due to bourgeoisie’s power, which causes the proletariats to use the money they receive from the bourgeoisie to cycle back to the bourgeoisie. The working class would “remain in bondage” (Kolakowski 248) until they realize they must defend their own social and political interests. Karl Marx, the father of communism, encourages a revolution, which involves the proletariat becoming aware of their disadvantages and the unfairness of their social systems. He claims that the proletariats must strive not for “the improvement of existing society, but the foundation of a new one” (Kalokwaski 248). [Could I argue for this as a separate paragraph???] However, critics see that Jack Gladney remains in his false consciousness when he says, “These things happen to poor people” and mentions how “society is set up in such a way that it’s the poor and the uneducated who suffer” from “man-made” disasters. (DeLillo 114). Gladney does not recognize that he is within the “working …show more content…
Through questioning the representation of nature, critics see how DeLillo utilizes the environment as an active role that is essential in understanding the plot of the novel, such as the toxic cloud event. The chemical cloud is significant because humankind essentially creates the toxic cloud since the hazardous cloud originates from an oil spill due to the factories, cars, and other conditioned societal “necessities” that require oil to maintain the production of the product. Jack claims that the “man-made event” (DeLillo 128) exposes Blacksmith to Nyodene D, which causes “[c]onvulsions, comas, [and] miscarriages” (DeLillo 121, suggesting that society’s effect on nature ultimately comes back to effect humankind. According to Ehrenfield, DeLillo reveals the “proud tradition of humanism” that involves “loving ourselves best of all” and only thinking of private interest instead of the sustainability of resources for future generations (Love 239). Furthermore, the toxic event reveals Jack’s fear of death when he finds that he has a strong possibility of dying within the next thirty years. Although DeLillo’s novel does not focus entirely on eco-centric arguments, “[nature] intrudes in White Noise [through] its apparent absence” (Love
They draw their conclusion from Karl Marx’s view of class and societies. Outside forces prevent groups or individuals from reaching certain goals or ways of living. That outside force is typically the upper class. The upper class have created an exclusive society for themselves that lock in their wealth at the expense of everyone else’s well-being. For example the CEO of Wal Mart, Michael Duke receives a $35 million yearly salary.
This attitude, a product of an impoverished society, led Russian-communists to regard revolution as the only solution to this detrimental system. Kennan notes the use of Marxism as justification for the desire
In his passage from “Last Child in the Woods,” Richard Louv uses various rhetorical strategies in order to make his audience more supportive of his argument. The passage discusses the connection, or really the separation, between people and nature. On this subject, Louv argues the necessity for people to redevelop their connection with nature. His use of tone, anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and factual examples all help develop the pathos and logos of his piece.
Many people who go into nature always see it as something beautiful and aesthetic, but they never see the other side to nature. Humankind’s connection with nature isn’t a real one. They always look at the bright side of nature but are blind to the true dark side of nature. JB MacKinnon’s article “False Idyll” (2012), reveals that nature is not just flowers in a field but can also be the survival of the fittest. He backs up his claim by talking about nature through anecdotes and expert’s research.
Meaning/Main Idea In the excerpt from Joan Didion’s “The Los Angeles Notebook, Didion’s main idea is that human behavior can be analyzed through mechanistic patterns, even though on the outside the cause, such as a Santa Ana wind, may seem supernatural. In the beginning of the excerpt, Didion describes the physical characteristics of a Santa Ana wind and continues on to explain people's instinctive reactions to these environmental conditions. She explains the pervasive effects of the Santa Ana by writing, “the baby frets, the maid sulks” (paragraph 1).
An appreciation for nature is instilled within a human being during their beginning years of life. Older generations teach younger generations what they have learned from their experiences in nature as a child despite the constant, ever-changing of the environment. Ever since the mid-twentieth century, the climate has been changing in ways that has the potential to one day threaten the lives of billions. Authors, such as Richard Louv, Jedediah Purdy, and Kalle Lasn, work to emphasize the downward fall that is occurring in society. Along with their opinions, my Mother also gave her input about the world today from a different point of view.
Marxism is the idea of social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. Social processes are the way individuals and groups interact, adjust and reject and start relationships based on behavior which is modified through social interactions. Overall marxism analyzes how societies progress and how and society ceases to progress, or regress because of their local or regional economy , or global economy. In this case, Marxism’s theory applies to the novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, where a society where mass satisfaction is the instrument utilized by places of power known as the Alphas in order to control the oppressed by keeping the Epsilons numb, at the cost of their opportunity to choose their own way of life. Marx thinks that an individual had a specific job to do in order to contribute to their community and that is the only way to do so; There is no escaping your contribution either.
Evelyn White continues, “certain if I ventured outside to admire a meadow or to feel cool ripples in a stream, I’d be taunted, attacked, raped, maybe even murdered because of the color of my skin” (White 1063). This perspective, illustrates what she believes would happen, if she were to go “outside”. The consequences would be ugly, and she makes the reader even feel threatened by this. She describes the nature itself as more relaxing and beautiful to look at, but then contradicts it with her feelings of fear and vulnerability to the wilderness. In the text “Nature”, by Raymond Williams, he explains the complexity of nature as a “tension: nature was at once innocent, unprovided, sure, unsure, fruitful, destructive, a pure force and tainted and cursed” (Williams 222).
Character Analysis in As I Lay Dying As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner has remained a fairly controversial and intriguing novel when it comes to analysis. It’s “stream of consciousness” style, extensive amount of narrators, and fragmented format leave much available for differing analysis. With the overwhelming amount of narrators comes several pivotal characters. In turn, investigating characterization becomes a popular form of analysis for this work.
Marxist false consciousness can best be described as a mental state of mind or self identity which inhibits a person from perceiving forms of injustice which they may be subject to. Throughout history, this has often been used as a tool by individuals who govern to maintain social order and stability amongst the governed. Many religions teach blind obedience of persons with authority whether they be heads of state or family heads. Religious doctrine, such as this, discourages Individuals from critiquing those in authority, which helps to maintain the status
As a result, Atwood criticizes this death drive by imbuing her society’s tenants, culture, and interpersonal relationships with this sense of inevitable self-destruction. Regarding the compounds, Atwood foreshadows a
Nature is easily projected onto, as it allows for a sense of peacefulness and escapism. Due to its ability to evoke an emotional reaction from the masses, many writers have glorified it through various methods, including describing its endless beauty and utilizing it as a symbol for spirituality. Along with authors, artists also show great respect and admiration for nature through paintings of grandiose landscapes. These tributes disseminate a fixed interpretation of the natural world, one full of meaning and other worldly connections. In “Against Nature,” Joyce Carol Oates strips away this guise given to the environment and replaces it with a harsher reality.
Marx believed that the current capitalist society is separated into two classes, the Proletariat society, and Bourgeois society. The Proletarians, as perceived by Marx, are part of the working class that only possess one significant material value, that is the ability to work, or labour power. The Bourgeoise, on the other hand, is the societal class that owns the means of production and hence rule over the Proletarians. As I quote from Marx’s book, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1988, p. 473)
In bourgeoisie society, there is living labor, but it is used to increase collected labour but in a communist society, collected labour exists but it is broadened, improved and shows appreciation and encouragement to the existence of the laborer. Communist robs no man of the authority to apposite the products of civilization. Mark speaks about different divisions of communist and literature. He mentions the reactionary socialism which includes the bourgeois socialists which are individuals who fight against the bourgeoisie society and their development of production. They are against the bourgeoisie because they see their approach of life as a hazard.
In the Communist manifesto, a well known quote of Marx, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” This is introductory to the first part of the pamphlet and a conclusion to Marx’s theory about class struggle. Marx’s highly structured on how the class struggle emerges and affects the development of a society. The development of a society from the old and from the new is the result of the conflict of classes in the society.