The idea of death seems to be a recurring theme in White Noise. We see this theme through the characters, several of whom have a terrifying fear of death specifically, Babette and Jack. In fact, the question “who will be the first to die” occurs several times throughout the novel. Babette discusses this fear when speaking to Jack. She cries that “I am afraid to die. I think about it all the time. It won’t go away” (186). Interestingly, Babette constanstly thinks of death just as the reader is constantly forced to reflect on this pervasive theme. Jack responds at first by trying to drop the subject because secretly death haunts him as well. However, it seems ironic that Jack Gladney makes his livelihood by teaching Hitler studies when Hitler can be represented as the embodiment of death and human suffering. It is also ironic that Babette and Jack continually argue about how they each want to be the first to die because they would not be able to bare the agony of losing the other.
In general, I believe that human beings have a strange fascination with death. The media is a perfect example of this idea. Why are ratings higher on news stations when a great tragedy takes place? Viewers tune in to watch or read news stories with high death tolls. Even though humans are terrified of dying, they are at the same time completely fascinated with it. Jack particularly shows this fascination. He spends much time throughout the novel reflecting on “who will be the first to die” as well as the meaning of death itself. During these reflections, he asks Babette “What if death is nothing but sound? Electrical noise. You hear it forever. Sound all around…uniform, white” (189). This ties in with the title of the book. One could interpret white noise as the sound of death. Murray also represents man’s interest in death during his seminar on car crashes.