Just how much does television shape our perception of the world around us? Don DeLillo's post modernistic novel, White Noise, offers one view concerning the huge impact television has on our lives and how it shapes our observations of the world. The television in this book is portrayed almost as a character due to its importance in the individuals' lives.
             White Noise contains the message that the amount of television coverage determines the importance of an event. An example of this is when the refugees from the toxic cloud feel let down when they only rate "fifty-two words by actual count- no film footage, no live report" (161) in the news. A man ponders, "Isn't fear news?" (161). Jack's ex-wife, Tweedy, is shocked to find that the passengers of a plane which almost crashed "went through all that for nothing" since "there is no media in Iron City" (92). To the characters in the novel, only media coverage brings an event into existence.
             Television shapes the characters' behavior in White Noise. During the "airborne toxic event", the Gladney family attempts to keep up with the currently reported symptoms caused by the event. The symptoms that Steffie and Denise suffer from during the toxic spill are forgotten immediately after they are told by the television that they should be experiencing the effects of "deja vu". The submissive obeying of the citizens of Blacksmith illustrates the controlling power of the television.
             The characters try to think as the television has told them they should. They feel betrayed when certain aspects of their lives do not fit in to their beliefs based on what they see in the media. Jack complains to his wife, Babette, "these things happen to poor people who live in exposed areas. ... I'm a college professor. Did you ever see a college professor rowing a boat down his own street in one of those TV floods? ... These things don't happen in places...