The Analysis of Family Ecology under the Toxic Smoke in DeLillo’s White Noise

This paper takes the Gladneys in DeLillo’s White Noise as the research object and examines their daily life. Ecocriticism theory is adopted to determine what factors might influence their family ecology and lead to the lack of communication and trust among family members. The results of this study have indicated that the dilemma of the Gladneys stems from the toxic smoke floating in the air and pervading in the sociocultural context. Changes in family structure, mass media and consumer culture all overshadow their family ecology. The Gladneys’ dilemma also reflects the collective dilemma of the post-modern American society.