White Noise

For Jack, Hitler is not the symbol of unchecked evil that exists in the collective 20th-century imagination. Rather, Jack’s obsession with Hitler stems from the way the crowds who flocked to see him felt “bigger, stronger, safer” (63) in his presence. For them, Hitler is an avenue for escaping death in the safety of a crowd. This holds natural appeal for a man like Jack who fears death so strongly. Jack utilizes the symbol of Hitler to enlarge his professional stature and legacy in the face of death and also to hide from death within something bigger. But this “confusion of means” (274), as Murray puts it, is precisely why Hitler is incapable of shielding Jack from his fear of dying. By the end, Hitler is at worst a source of shame stemming from Jack’s imposter syndrome and at best another part of the white noise of modern existence, as German phrases or references emerge ominously from the din.

While much of Jack’s narration has a wry, detached quality, his feelings about subterfuge—or “plots,” as he refers to it—are an exception. Jack possesses a deep antipathy toward those who conspire in secret. This antipathy likely stems from Jack’s association between plots and death. “All plots tend to move deathward” (26), he says in response to a question about the plot to kill Hitler. In Chapter 37, however, Murray gives Jack a fresh perspective on the matter. When discussing the binary of “killers” and “diers,” Murray tells Jack that “to plot is to live” (278). He goes on: “Your whole life is a plot, a scheme, a diagram. It is a failed scheme but that’s not the point. To plot is to affirm life, to seek shape and control” (278). While Jack isn’t entirely convinced at first, the argument has a profound impact on him. Within two chapters, he has fully converted into a “plotter,” even going so far as to repeatedly envision the steps of his plot to kill Willie Mink. In other words, a plot may move deathward but not for the plotter himself. And while Jack eventually changes his mind and saves Willie’s life, it is this reaffirmation of control that finally alleviates some of Jack’s death-phobia.

Early in the book, when Jack mentions that the sunsets in Blacksmith are especially glorious, he includes a somewhat ominous aside: “People say the sunsets around here were not nearly so stunning thirty or forty years ago” (22). The theory is that air pollution is the cause of the town’s extraordinary sunsets. The theory is supported by the Airborne Toxic Event, after which the sunsets become more beautiful than ever. These brilliant chemical-soaked displays symbolize not only how death is everywhere—even in the sky—but also how death can make life more beautiful. This echoes Winnie’s views on death, that death gives life greater meaning, which Jack finds touching but unconvincing.

In the last chapter, however, Jack describes with relish his family’s nightly outings to the overpass to watch the sun descend in the summer sky. His sanguine attitude toward the death-smeared skies is perhaps the most convincing evidence that Jack’s violent confrontation with Willie has cured some of his soul-sickness concerning death.

“The Most Photographed Barn in America” is only mentioned once, but it is extremely important to the theme of artifice versus truth explored throughout the novel. In Chapter 3 Murray tells Jack, “Once you’ve seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn” (12). By this, he means that the barn is now shrouded in an aura of status and tourism that obscures its true form. Put another way, being seen makes something invisible. This idea has massive implications on other parts of the novel, especially Jack’s fabricated Hitler studies persona. In increasing his prestige and status through artifice, Jack has made it impossible to be seen as he truly is—at least in the professional sphere—compounding his loneliness, isolation, and imposter syndrome.