nxiety and pressures that life brings (Long). “Not only can people escape fromtheir everyday problems through the physical and mental stimulation of shopping, but bybecoming part of a consumer culture, they begin to feel part of something real, whenarguably that experience is not real at all” (Miles 61). The act of consumerism and thegoods that are consumed seem to fulfill any human desire wanted at that time, but it cannever actually do so. (Baudrillard qtd. in Miles 26).While browsing around at the huge hardware store near the mall, Jack runs intoEric Massingale who is on the teaching staff at the computer center at the College on theHill. Jack is not in his glasses and gown that he wears at the college. Massingale tellsJack how differently he looks with his glasses and gown. He tells Jack, “You look soharmless Jack. A big harmless, aging, indistinct sort of guy” (83). Jack was hurt by thesecomments because they seemed to threaten his ego: “The encounter put me in the moodto shop” (83). From then on, Jack and his family begin to shop at the Mid-Village Mall.Throughout White Noise, shopping is seen as being a family activity. The familystructure is established in the act of consumption (Ferraro 22). The Gladney family goesto the supermarket and the mall together and consume restaurant prepared food together.This shows how consumerism is becoming a family activity that brings closeness tochildren and their parents in a post-modern society. The family structure is firmlyestablished in the act of consuming (Ferraro 22). Steven Shepard wrote that “going to themall is a part of a long and many-pronged courtship, part of the relentless and powerfulseduction of our children by that portion of our culture that accords human beings nomore value than the contents of their wallets.” This shows how much influence thechildren have their parents, as well as the parents influence on their ch...
