{"id":565,"date":"2009-04-01T00:53:32","date_gmt":"2009-04-01T05:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/?p=565"},"modified":"2009-04-01T00:59:17","modified_gmt":"2009-04-01T05:59:17","slug":"%e2%80%9cthe-darker-the-news-the-grander-the-narrative%e2%80%9d-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/?p=565","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe darker the news, the grander the narrative.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think Mao II<\/em> is a perfect example of postmodernist writing thematically albeit not so much in its form. While I do not think that Delillo uses a writing style or structure that is viewed as \u201ctraditionally postmodern\u201d (sounds like an oxymoron because postmodern writing is supposed to be innovative and defy any restrictive rules of form and function), I do think that the subject matter of this novel is distinctly postmodern in that it presents the stories of characters who live in a postindustrial and postmodern world and are seduced by the metanarrative of consumerism, where media images are constantly idolized and accepted as representations of objective truth.<\/p>\n

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The novel\u2019s recurrent allusions to news and advertisements on TV and the pervasive influence of the images they produce is really interesting especially as it relates to crowds and groupthink (in the end leading to a cult mentality). I also found the idea of writer as commodity both fascinating and frightening. Bill repeatedly shares his opinion of the \u201ccult\u201d of writers, and he admits to Brita that he is has \u201cbecome someone\u2019s material\u201d (43). This view is substantiated by the fact that Bill\u2019s identity is represented as a objectified commodity\u2014in terms of what writings he has produced: \u201cThere were reviews of Bill\u2019s novels, interviews with former colleagues and acquaintances [\u2026] stacks of magazines and journals containing articles about Bill\u2019s work and about his disappearance, his concealment, his retirement, his alleged change of identity, his rumored suicide, his return to work, his work-in-progress, his death, his rumored return [\u2026] booklength studies of Bill\u2019s work and work about his work\u201d (31). With all this trouble that writers go through to publicize their works and yet remain reticent about their private lives, you would think that their influence extends far and wide and that they are respected and admired; however, Delillo argues the exact opposite.<\/p>\n

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In one of the most interesting discussions that takes place in the novel between Bill and Brita, Bill points to the destructive effect of the commoditization of the writer\u2014writers no longer have the power to \u201calter the inner life of the culture\u201d (41). Now, people can only be influenced by brutal acts of terror that \u201cmake raids on human consciousness [because] News of disaster is the only narrative people need\u201d (41). Another really important idea in the novel) is when Brita discusses terror as \u201cthe only meaningful act\u201d in a society where meanings and messages are superfluous and overwhelming in depth and extensiveness: \u201cThere\u2019s too much everything, more things than we can use in ten thousand lifetimes. Inertia-hysteria. Is history possible? Is anyone serious? Who do we take seriously? Only the lethal believer, the one who kills and dies for faith. Everything else is absorbed\u201d (157). In this seminal paragraph, Delillo points out to the reader a number of interesting questions that relate to this idea of terror as the only \u201creal\u201d thing in the context of media produced for the masses. As I was thinking about this statement and about the different characters\u2019 journeys within the novel as a whole, it occurred to me that maybe Delillo is making a deeper statement about the existential nature of society as a whole\u2014a person has to choose either to submit entirely to a higher power, or to a painful and reclusive life alone void of any moral direction. Bill Gray, represented as the antihero in the novel, clearly suffers from this lack of guidance as well as Karen who never successfully breaks free from cult; they both represent the resulting loss <\/em>of a society that has abandoned this idea of objective truth. Hence, by focusing specifically on the metanarrative of consumerism, Delillo is emphasizing its futility and meaninglessness especially when placed within the grander and darker narrative of life and death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think Mao II is a perfect example of postmodernist writing thematically albeit not so much in its form. While I do not think that Delillo uses a writing style or structure that is viewed as \u201ctraditionally postmodern\u201d (sounds like an oxymoron because postmodern writing is supposed to be innovative and defy any restrictive rules … Continue reading \u201cThe darker the news, the grander the narrative.\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[64,67,63,66,65],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-week-11-mao-ii","tag-commodity","tag-existentialism","tag-mao-ii","tag-metanarratives","tag-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":571,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions\/571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}