Death is part of the process of life. It has been delayed by medical science, ignored by society and disregarded by many of the young. Yet it still exists, lurking in the back of our minds. Each day we live, we all move closer to the moment of our death, but if we allow this thought to preoccupy our existence, it will prevent us from living our life to the fullest due to an intrusion of dread of fear of death and dying. Don DeLillos post modern novel White Noise is a representation of this social fear and the way in which we are always aware of death but do not wish to acknowledge it due to fear. In this way death can be seen as the white noise, which is always present in our life but not always heard. The characters in this novel must first face the inevitability of death for it is only with final acceptance that peace can be found.Death is present throughout the novel and while the characters know it is there, they often hide behind reality instead of facing it. Jack Gladney is the founder and professor of Hitler Studies at the College-on-the Hill. There is not a more appropriate twentieth century icon that represents death than that of Hitler. Jack surrounds himself with his work, reading deeply into Hitler well into the night (DeLillo, 2057). The chancellor at the college even convinced Jack to alter his name, encouraged him to gain weight, and basically grow out into Hitler. And yet he hesitates to learn German because he sensed the deathly power of the language (DeLillo, 2066). With Jacks occupation comes the constant topic of death. A topic that arouses a lot of questions and curiosity in Jack, yet he is afraid to find the answers. When Babette reads everyones horoscopes, he tries not to listen, although I think I wanted to listen, I think I sought some clues (DeLillo, 2058). In a conversation with his son, coincidentally named Heinrich, he is confronted with the thought of leaving a legacy as his sons convicted murderer had ...
