Delillo The Names Summary

DeLillo writes about a variety of fiction themes. These themes range from magic or dread, consumerism, global capitalism, terrorism, mystery or enlightenment, language as imprisonment or freedom, and conspiracy theories. DeLillo’s either/or approach to theme agrees with writer Mark Osteen’s debate that DeLillo both agrees and disagrees with post-modern culture.
DeLillo believes that “writing is a concentrated form of thinking”. DeLillo states that writing should be convenient and done in a place of comfort. His literary style uses heavy emphasis on visualizing the piece of work in a vague manner. He thinks about a particular scene first, a simple idea of a character in a setting. He utilizes a list of items and ideas, in order, that
may embody the next few pages (Begley, “Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No.135”, http://www.theparisreview.org/).
DeLillo’s use of rhythm sets him apart from many other authors. DeLillo “hears” a rhythm in his head that drives him through a sentence. The rhythm in a sentence will help clasp a fixed number of syllables. DeLillo’s words have a sculptural nature, where they match up through look, meaning, and sound (Burns). DeLillo facilitates a unique writing style in his book, Point Omega. The characters in Point Omega discuss an “omega point” where “the mind transcends all direction inward”. DeLillo uses themes of mystery and lack of freedom to attack post-modern culture values. The characters in Point Omega show detachment from the world and feel alienated from others. They constantly search for meaning in their lives and exist in their own intermediate and average state of mind (Kaur 80,81).
DeLillo created a new method of writing when working on his book The Names.
DeLillo begins a new, clean page when finishing any paragraph, long or short. This enables DeLillo to see his work and groups of sentences more clearly. Empty, white space around a page create an environment that helps DeLillo concentrate on writing. The white space made rewriting work easier and more efficient. The Names marked the start of a newly found dedication for DeLillo. DeLillo discovered that he needed the excitement of a new and unfamiliar language. Due to this new found excitement, DeLillo began to study the Greek alphabet. Learning about the shapes and letters carved into the stones of Athens gave DeLillo a much needed refreshed energy for writing. (Begley, “Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No.135”, http://www.theparisreview.org/)
DeLillo’s use of dialogue differed from book to book. In The Names, DeLillo raised the characters levels of intelligence. He made it so that each character possessed a fairly high degree of intellect. In Libra, DeLillo made a bigger and broader variety of characters. He attempted to “flatten things out”. In the book White Noise, DeLillo made it so there was much less dialogue and an increase of human dread. Dialogue changed dramatically with plot changes (Kaur 76, 77, 79,
81).
Many of DeLillo’s books focus on themes of consumerism and technology. In DeLillo’s first novel, Americana, the main subject is consumerism and its effects on everyday life. The book contains the idea “To consume in America is not to buy; it is to dream”. Americana depicted the life of a television executive in the late 1960’s. DeLillo conveyed the message that consumerism would lead to the disappearance of old cultural values and a detachment of the atomic family. DeLillo had thoughts of entertainment based on reality and voyeur cams in the future as early as 1928. DeLillo was one of the first to make a fake investigation of 9/11 through his book Falling Man. He based Falling Man on the unknown factors of his time and used it to create themes of mystery and 20th century technology. Falling Man displayed heavy criticism on modern-day American life. DeLillo depicted the change in lifestyle of the American people when faced with new technology (Kaur 77, 80, 81).
The television plays a major role in DeLillo’s novels White Noise and Libra. In White Noise, exemplifying all types of media point to society’s wanting of consumerism. In Libra, the television gives the common man a chance to view and think about the events that surrounded the Kennedy assassination. The television allowed one to look for answers to the assassination. For example, a character could have made the choice of either accepting the official story of the Warren Commission Report or search and make conspiracy theories (Kaur 78).
In the book Underworld, DeLillo left an astounding impression on readers by utilizing multiple themes. There are three main themes in Underworld, the pile of garbage left by modern society, the destiny of a baseball from a winning game in the World Series of 1951, and the constant and real threat of atomic warfare. DeLillo depicts all of these themes by moving forward and backward through time while gradually introducing characters and events. He then shows how each of their lives is interconnected in some way. Underworld brought up topics about the cold war and the underlying nuclear threat along with the imminent fall of the Soviet Union. These events are connected with the common person’s everyday life. Underworld also discussed a major issue of garbage disposal and waste in the Cold War. People did not know where to put and manage the waste at the time. Underworld questioned what individuals and society should value and what they should dispose of using knowledge from past experiences and understandings. It asked society to face the consequences of the decisions that were made (Kaur 78).
Throughout his many books, DeLillo constantly focused on a theme of American life and reality. For example, Libra is meant to show how the media’s obtrusion of life causes an uncertain reality. This uncertain reality is seen by the common man being able to witness the events surrounding John F. Kennedy’s assassination and deciding for themselves whether the media was correct or not. It was said that Oswald murdered Kennedy in prospect of the attention he would receive from the media. In prison, Oswald was satisfied knowing his name would be heard by the whole world due to media. He felt proud knowing that he changes media attention from President Kennedy to himself. In an interview, DeLillo agreed that “television was an essential part of the significance of the Kennedy assassination”. In Libra, the characters represent the temporary American lifestyle/reality which has become a mere artificial intrusion due to mass media. Libra shows that new technology and media turned reality into hyper-reality. Mass media was at fault for the increasing consumerism ideology. The delirium and tension of huge shopping malls and outlets mesmerize society. People begin to have different perceptions of everything due to the increase of virtual reality. People began to feel sad after leaving a hyper real place. They began to feel alienated from society itself. For example, Jack, a character in Libra, says that “We went to our respective rooms, wishing to be alone” after going shopping with a group. After returning from the short-lived euphoria that virtual reality creates, people come back to their dreadful realities (Kaur 79,80).
The theme of memory and unpredictable circumstances reside throughout every page in DeLillo’s book Falling Man.