The Veldt And White Noise: Literary Analysis

Imagine walking through a house of mirrors - an endless array of reflections staring back at you. Those faces look like yours, but the cold glass cannot truly emulate the living, breathing human which stands in front of it. The enjoyment in such scenarios comes from finding your way out; it comes from recognizing that none of those reflections were a reality. Many people, however, are trapped in these fun houses by the monotony of life, and it takes a traumatic event to jolt them awake and realize that the truth lies beyond the glass. These moments manifest themselves in many different forms, but in Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” and Don Delillo’s White Noise, these moments come about through the promise or possibility of death. As the parents in Bradbury’s novel are killed by their children and Delillo’s Jack Gladney is shot …show more content…
Here, the protagonist is shocked back into reality in his interaction with Willie Mink, a doctor who was having an affair with and supplying medication to his wife, and also the man whom he had set out to kill. After shooting Mink twice and placing the gun in his hand to make it appear as a suicide, Jack Gladney is shot in the wrist by the dazed doctor, forcing him to honestly assess the situation he has …show more content…
Some may assert that his perception of reality is clearest when he must leave his home as a result of the airborne toxic event, or when he is told by the SIMVAC worker that the toxins inside him will result in his demise. However, he never comes closer to death than in the moments following the shot fired by Willie Mink. While other events may have caused him great stress, it is only in this event that Jack truly sees clearly enough to understand his