Analysis of White Noise, City of Glass, Jesus' Son, the Things They Carried

Brittanie Waller

Teacher

Class

12 December 2011

Title

This semester we have read many books discussing the roles of women, the roles of language, religion, and various other categories. The one, however, that stuck with me the most was that of the presence of the one true identity. The cross between who we are and who we are expected to be; a theme that comes up in one way or another in every book. The main books I will be drawing out of are White Noise, by Don Delillo, City of Glass, part of The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, with samplings of Jesus’ Son, by Denis Johnson, as well as Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.

In White Noise, a novel by Don Delillo, main character Jack Gladney has this constant struggle between how he is seen, or even presents his self to others, and who he really is. As a professor of Hitler studies he was told by the chancellor of the Hill, the university where he teaches, to change his presentation so as to “grow into Hitler.” “Jack Gladney would not do, he said and asked me what other names I might have at my disposal. We finally agreed that I should invent an extra initial and call myself J.A.K. Gladney, a tag I wore like a borrowed suit…He strongly suggested I gain weight… If I could become more ugly, he seemed to be suggesting, it would help my career enormously. ” (pg. 16-17). This shortened excerpt is a perfect example of the outward expression of character that Jack had to present to be accepted by others around him. He had to give off a different air about him to gain respect of his colleagues and pupils.

Even further still Jack feels that learning German will improve his standing as a learned individual in the field of Hitler studies since not only do the professors under him know at least a little German but, “No one could major in Hitler studies at the College-on-the-Hill without a minimum of one year of German.” (pg. 31) He feels like a hypocrite, a fake. He’s the founder of this wildly successful school of...