One of the central plot lines in White Noise is Babette Gladney’s fear of death which eventually turns into Jack Gladney’s fear of death which is grounded and legitimized by his own scheduled mortality. This of course stems from Jack’s exposure to the major toxic event, which makes qualified doctors inform him that they believe he has about 30 years left to live. Anyways, when I read, I think about what I am reading. And the fear of death has been brought up a lot in White Noise, which has lead me to think about it frequently, and now I too am slightly afraid of my own death, just like the fictional characters in the novel. I could die at any time. Just because the average person of my general class, nationality, and income bracket lives into their 70s doesn’t mean that I will. Accidents happen frequently in cars, people frequently become furious whith each other to the point of physical violence, and the most dominant physical force on earth, gravity, seems to be out to get me every time I move. Even a death in my 70s would probably come from some painful or horrible disease like cancer or Parkinson’s. And every hour I live brings me closer to this end.
The only way I can get out of this manner of thinking is by distracting myself, and fortunately this happens a lot because even now, I remain pretty busy. But I wonder, if I only am not scared of death when I am distracted, is it my true nature to be obsessively afraid of death at all times?
Great American Novels 
2 replies on “White Noise is Making me Fear My Own Death”
I had these same feelings as well, which led to the same question as you. I try to of answers to it myself. The second half of the 20th century saw large amounts of people grasping for generally artificial in the world, which is why it seems as though every decade from 1950 on has its own stereotype. Since the mid 1900s America has been increasingly non religious which used to be the only identity people could cling to for centuries. Organized religion was not the point of life but it at least gave participants a purpose. But what is purpose if not just another distraction. We now live in a time when there isn’t even reason to work because of technology, which most people cling to for purpose. Having purpose in life is not the same as having a point for living, although it can be the best substitute, but what happens when your only purpose is to live life?
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I liked this blog post because when I was reading White Noise, I also found myself fearing my own death because you never know how or when that’s going to happen. I think it’s natural for humans to be afraid of the unknown. In this novel there’s so many times that Jack and Babette talk about who’s going to die first and what life will be like. I think reading this makes me more afraid because then I think about death. The only way to not think about it is to distract yourself and try not think about it.
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