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The Modern Package: Examining Reactions to the Consumer Society in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Don DeLillo's White Noise

Mervik, Andrea LU (2013) ENGK01 20131
English Studies
Abstract
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Don Delillo’s White Noise both portray the modern world even though they were written over 60 years apart. Despite the fact that these worlds represent very different states of modernity, they are defined by two central traits: technology and consumerism, which influence the characters of both novels in several comparable ways. The concept of packaging is central in such an environment. This essay examines how the characters use different forms of packaging to fit in and make sense of the world around them. This is done by looking at how the characters view packaging, how they make sense of what they see and how they adapt, being surrounded by it. This essay will examine the characters’ perception... (More)
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Don Delillo’s White Noise both portray the modern world even though they were written over 60 years apart. Despite the fact that these worlds represent very different states of modernity, they are defined by two central traits: technology and consumerism, which influence the characters of both novels in several comparable ways. The concept of packaging is central in such an environment. This essay examines how the characters use different forms of packaging to fit in and make sense of the world around them. This is done by looking at how the characters view packaging, how they make sense of what they see and how they adapt, being surrounded by it. This essay will examine the characters’ perception of the modern world; how they create order in what they see; how they find meaning in packaging; how they transform their identities using packaging and finally how this behaviour affects the way that the characters view death. The results of this study show that packaging is central and influential in many aspects of the characters lives and that there are both similarities and dissimilarities between how the characters in the two novels are affected. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Mervik, Andrea LU
supervisor
organization
course
ENGK01 20131
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
cataloguing, religious interpretations, identity transformation, technology, modernity, consumerism, death in the modern world
language
English
id
3900420
date added to LUP
2013-08-05 09:34:07
date last changed
2013-08-05 09:34:07
@misc{3900420,
  abstract     = {{F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Don Delillo’s White Noise both portray the modern world even though they were written over 60 years apart. Despite the fact that these worlds represent very different states of modernity, they are defined by two central traits: technology and consumerism, which influence the characters of both novels in several comparable ways. The concept of packaging is central in such an environment. This essay examines how the characters use different forms of packaging to fit in and make sense of the world around them. This is done by looking at how the characters view packaging, how they make sense of what they see and how they adapt, being surrounded by it. This essay will examine the characters’ perception of the modern world; how they create order in what they see; how they find meaning in packaging; how they transform their identities using packaging and finally how this behaviour affects the way that the characters view death. The results of this study show that packaging is central and influential in many aspects of the characters lives and that there are both similarities and dissimilarities between how the characters in the two novels are affected.}},
  author       = {{Mervik, Andrea}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Modern Package: Examining Reactions to the Consumer Society in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Don DeLillo's White Noise}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}