How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The smoke alarm went off in the hallway upstairs, either to let us know the battery had just died or because the house was on fire. We finished our lunches in silence. (2.31)
From the get-go, technology makes a sinister appearance in this book. Its sound means that there's danger in the house. Then again, the sound of it going off could mean nothing, since it also goes off if it's battery is getting low. This passage shows you how Jack's attitude toward technology is either neutral or negative. The smoke detector either means nothing, or it means something bad
Quote #2
"It's going to rain tonight."
"It's raining now," I said.
"The radio said tonight." (6.3-6.5)
Jack is an old-school guy. If he wants to know the weather, he'll just stick his hand out the window. But Heinrich is one of these hip new teenagers who get all his info from the media. So if the radio says it'll rain at night, he sticks with that explanation no matter what his senses tell him. In this case, you can get a pretty good sense of how deeply modern media has affected Heinrich's sense of reality.
Quote #3
Someone turned on the TV set at the end of the hall, and a woman's voice said: "If it breaks easily into pieces, it is called shale. When wet, it smells like clay." (7.28)
Throughout this book, there always seems to be a voice coming from the TV or radio. This is a conscious decision on DeLillo's part, because he wants us to be aware of how modern media is always with us. We might think we're ignoring it, but it's always in the background, gnawing at our subconscious minds. We might not even have any clue how much it's affecting what our eyes and ears tell us about the world.