Abstract
In Don DeLillo's novel, White Noise, there is a chapter entitled 'The Airborne
Toxic Event' which recounts the involvement of the central character and his
family in a disaster. A rail-yard accident in which a chemical tank is pierced
produces a toxic cloud which threatens the local community and forces their evacuation. DeLillo recounts the family's experience of the kind of event that they normally only see on television, an experience which they regard as usually reserved for other people (DeLillo,1986: 117). As participants, the Gladney family experience this social event from the inside, finding themselves directly caught up in the rumour, mass fear and prophecies of doom which accompany this apparently real but uncertain threat to their lives.
Toxic Event' which recounts the involvement of the central character and his
family in a disaster. A rail-yard accident in which a chemical tank is pierced
produces a toxic cloud which threatens the local community and forces their evacuation. DeLillo recounts the family's experience of the kind of event that they normally only see on television, an experience which they regard as usually reserved for other people (DeLillo,1986: 117). As participants, the Gladney family experience this social event from the inside, finding themselves directly caught up in the rumour, mass fear and prophecies of doom which accompany this apparently real but uncertain threat to their lives.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 23-32 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1997 |
| Externally published | Yes |