Struggling Against Oblivion:Alienation Of Human Nature In Consumer Culture In Don DeLillo's Novel White Noise

In White Noise, the author constructs a postmodern consumer society where the omni-presence of consumer culture exerts fundamental impact on human beings so that changes occur in their life, family, and even their way of thinking. This thesis, based on Marx's theory of alienation, tries to examine those changes from three aspects to investigate alienation of human nature in the context of postmodern consumer culture.Firstly, consumerism leads to alienation between man and objects as commodities and advertisements are flooded in consumer society and attract people to buy, to consume and to listen irresistibly. In the novel, the author's subtle descriptions about the Collage-on-the-Hill, Jack's shopping experience, and discussions on the media offer evidence to examine the influence of consumer culture upon people's life.Secondly, consumer culture changes the relationship between people both in and outside the domestic area, where men become more dependent on commodities in their struggle against alienation of human relationships. Analyses are drawn on the postmodern nuclear family, the old man Treadwell, and the isolated German teacher, whose awkwardness of their social relationships and weirdness in their language, behavior and appearances provide examples of human estrangement and separation.Thirdly, consumer society has transformed the landscape of people's living environment that deprives men of their contact with nature and imposes danger and threat on human life, resulting in alienation between man and society. Such consequences throw people into the permanent struggle against the terror of oblivion, in which they are trying hard to seek for their lost hope and reassurance in this alienated world.It is hoped that this thesis would remind readers of the importance of Marx's basic presentation on alienation and guides people to see the fundamental cause, and furthermore, raise people's awareness to take a closer look at the fact that consumers in postmodern society are affected in various aspects of their life, and remind them of the effort they are making in their struggle against oblivion to maintain their natural being as human species as well as their connection with nature, with families, and with society.