The author's use of satire in attacking American living stereotypes is the basis for this paper consisting of five pages. Two sources are cited in the bibliography.
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using this paper properly! When asked to describe his 1985 novel, White Noise, Don DeLillo deadpanned, "Its about fear, death, and technology. A comedy, of course" (White Noise,
2001). Following in the medieval satirical tradition of Jonathan Swift, DeLillo employs the art of parody to reflect the hopes and fears unique to people living in a postmodern
world. He skewers the technologically-fueled pop culture consumerism, where trends become yesterdays news as soon as they start. The protagonist is a professor named Jack Gladney, who with
his intellectual wife, Babette, and their children from previous marriages, lives in a quiet Midwestern college town. Jack is an academic pioneer of sorts, having developed the curriculum known
as Hitler Studies. As he explains in the novels opening chapter, "I am chairman of the department of Hitler studies at the College-on-the-Hill. I invented Hitler studies in
North America in March of 1968. It was a cold bright day with intermittent winds out of the east. When I suggested to the chancellor that we might
build a whole department around Hitlers life and work, he was quick to see the possibilities. It was an immediate and electrifying success. The chancellor went on to
serve as adviser to Nixon, Ford and Carter before his death on a ski lift in Austria" (1985, p. 2). This illustrates the satirical portrayal of the academic community,
who believe anything is worthy of closer study, particularly if it has positive political ramifications. Everything in the collegiate structure is based on political maneuverings that are not unlike
the wheeling-and-dealing of Washingtons power brokers. Despite the fact that the chancellor took all the credit for Jacks brainchild, he is still proud of his scholarly innovation, even though