White Noise Technology & Modernization Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"When plastic furniture burns, you get cyanide poisoning," Heinrich said, tapping the Formica tabletop. (20.48)

Here again, you have an example of a kid telling a parent what's what when it comes to safety in the home. It seems like every material humans have created since 1900 is either extremely poisonous or cancer-causing. 

Quote #8

"Gladney, J.A.K. I punch in the name, the substance, the exposure time and then I tap into your computer history. Your genetics, your personals, your medicals, your psychologicals, your police-and-hospitals. It comes back pulsing stars […] It just means you are the sum total of your data. No man escapes that." (21.398)

Spend enough time on a computer and you might start to think that your Facebook profile is more real than you are. After all, that's the side of you that most people see the majority of the time. In a way, doesn't that make your profile the real you? It's all there. All your likes, your dislikes, your history in pictures. Heck, what does that leave for you, the person sitting at the computer right now? 

Quote #9

I think I felt as I would if a doctor had held an X-ray to the light showing a star-shaped hole at the center of my vital organs. Death has entered. It is inside you. (21.401)

For Jack, technology (symbolized by an X-ray) is what tells him whether or not he's dying. His death wouldn't have been a real thing to him if someone hadn't punched his data into a computer and told him how long he has to live. A passage like this shows you the extent to which people rely on media and technology to tell us what's real and what isn't.