Irony
Throughout the whole novel, irony presents itself as a way to comment on the relationships found between the members of society and the relationship a person has with their own self-image and destiny.
Ex. 1: Wilder's Crying - Chapter 16
An interesting situation is presented within Ch. 16 of the novel. Here, Jack's son Wilder is seen crying loudly and without end for no apparent reason. While the chapter is only 5 pages long, the crying takes up the main focus of the chapter and presents a significant ironic image in Jack's treatment of Wilder.
A description of the crying: "It was a sound so large and pure I could almost listen to it, try consciously to apprehend it, as one sets up a mental register in a concert hall or theater. He was not sniveling or blubbering. He was crying out, saying nameless things in a way that touched me with its depth and richness. This was an ancient dirge all the more impressive for its resolute monotony... They watched him with something like awe. Nearly seven straight hours of serious crying. It was as though he'd just returned from a period of wandering in some remote and holy place ... a place where things are said, sights are seen, distances reached in which we in our ordinary toil can only regard with the mingled reverence and wonder we hold in reserve for feats of the most sublime and difficult dimensions." (78-79) |
The Gladney family's action of "[watching Wilder] with something like awe" shows a total disconnect between Wilder's situation and the care that the family is supposed to have for him. The situation as a whole provides a social commentary in which even the all-American nuclear family that the Gladney's should be is perturbed by greater tragedies within their social sphere. All the more, it further underlines the book's whole commentary that America is slowly moving towards the little and the mundane, a world where consumer culture and generic brands run rampant. The crying is comparable to a white noise, constantly droning on in the background and spreading its influence. The white noise in society, coming from all sorts of sources, including advertisements, tabloids, and even Wilder, all have a tremendous effect on Jack. They cause a seemingly sub-conscious change within Jack.
Furthermore, the description of the crying is not of normal composure, where only sadness and misery are supposed to be found. It is ironic how Jack also finds it tantamount to something related to "some remote and holy place" or something "sublime", worthy of "awe", words never associated with crying. On the surface, the crying baby is just someone in distress. Jack seems to totally ignore the crying as a intrinsic human baby reaction to distress, and rather sees it as a feat of God. The crying seems to pass along a hidden message along to Jack, something that really inspires and mesmerizes Jack. This is simply another source of white noise. To Jack, these sources of white noise seemingly takes the place of the traditional religion.
Jack's reaction:
"The inconsolable crying went on. I let it wash over me, like rain in sheets. I entered it, in a sense. I let it fall and tumble across my face and chest. I began to think he had disappeared inside this wailing noise and if I could join him in his lost and suspended place we might together perform some reckless wonder of intelligibility." (79)
Jack becomes one with Wilder in his crying, as if he were basking in the spirit of his torment. Here the normal societal trope of helping a child when he is in trouble, especially if the trouble is seven hours long, is lost within Jack. This further shows the familial disconnect between the crying Wilder and the Gladney family. Here the father figure that Jack is supposed to be is lost and is replaced by a Jack who comes as a disciple under Wilder. Jack here essentially finds his own solace within his own son, despite the fact that he should be the one providing solace to Wilder. Ironically, the roles of Wilder and Jack have flipped, illustrating the changes in society.
The Gladney family's action of "[watching Wilder] with something like awe" shows a total disconnect between Wilder's situation and the care that the family is supposed to have for him. The situation as a whole provides a social commentary in which even the all-American nuclear family that the Gladney's should be is perturbed by greater tragedies within their social sphere. All the more, it further underlines the book's whole commentary that America is slowly moving towards the little and the mundane, a world where consumer culture and generic brands run rampant. The crying is comparable to a white noise, constantly droning on in the background and spreading its influence. The white noise in society, coming from all sorts of sources, including advertisements, tabloids, and even Wilder, all have a tremendous effect on Jack. They cause a seemingly sub-conscious change within Jack.
Furthermore, the description of the crying is not of normal composure, where only sadness and misery are supposed to be found. It is ironic how Jack also finds it tantamount to something related to "some remote and holy place" or something "sublime", worthy of "awe", words never associated with crying. On the surface, the crying baby is just someone in distress. Jack seems to totally ignore the crying as a intrinsic human baby reaction to distress, and rather sees it as a feat of God. The crying seems to pass along a hidden message along to Jack, something that really inspires and mesmerizes Jack. This is simply another source of white noise. To Jack, these sources of white noise seemingly takes the place of the traditional religion.
Jack's reaction:
"The inconsolable crying went on. I let it wash over me, like rain in sheets. I entered it, in a sense. I let it fall and tumble across my face and chest. I began to think he had disappeared inside this wailing noise and if I could join him in his lost and suspended place we might together perform some reckless wonder of intelligibility." (79)
Jack becomes one with Wilder in his crying, as if he were basking in the spirit of his torment. Here the normal societal trope of helping a child when he is in trouble, especially if the trouble is seven hours long, is lost within Jack. This further shows the familial disconnect between the crying Wilder and the Gladney family. Here the father figure that Jack is supposed to be is lost and is replaced by a Jack who comes as a disciple under Wilder. Jack here essentially finds his own solace within his own son, despite the fact that he should be the one providing solace to Wilder. Ironically, the roles of Wilder and Jack have flipped, illustrating the changes in society.
Ex. 2: Jack and the Nun - Pages 303-304
Another ironic situation within the novel presents itself when Jack meets a nun named Hermann Marie. He is astounded by the way she treats her own faith and there is an irony in the situation of having a nun not having a religion at all.
Dialogue:
"But you're a nun. Nuns believe these things. When we see a nun, it cheers us up, it's cute and amusing, being reminded that someone still believes in angels, in saints, all the traditional things." "You would have a head so dumb to believe this?" "It's not what I believe that counts. It's what you believe." "This is true," she said. "The nonbelievers need the believers. They are desperate to have someone believe." (303) "It is for others. Not for us." "But that's ridiculous. What others?" "All the others. The others who spend their lives believing that we still believe. It is our task in the world to believe things no one else takes seriously. To abandon such beliefs completely, the human race would die." (303) "You don't believe in heaven? A nun?" "If you don't, why should I? "If you did, maybe I would." "If I did, you would not have to." "All the old muddles and quirks," I said. "Faith, religion, life everlasting. The great old human gullibilities." (304) |
First and foremost, this demonstrates irony and the straying away from a traditional society. The most devout member of the church, a nun, has stopped her belief in God and heaven. Furthermore, it is weird for the nun to note that she believes "for others" but "not for [herself]" as believing is largely a thing a person does for themselves and their own faith. Overall, this encounter furthers the main idea presented within the novel that America is losing "all the traditional things" and that many Americans are living in a false world in which they thrive because they know someone else is believing for them. Indeed the nun's line "The nonbelievers need the believers. They are desperate to have someone believe" shows novel's idea that there is a disillusionment in America, a disillusionment most likely from the consumer culture that is also largely present within the novel. The Gladney family's lack of religion and the lack of religious imagery save for when it is tied to consumerism shows that the novel is commenting on America's growing atheism and turn towards the more self-focused world of consumer culture.