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The Influence of Family, Family-Like Figures, or Lack of Family, Loss of…

- - - - Both of these quotes are related to Jack finding out that Babette slept with another man, the mysterious Mr. Gray. He becomes so obsessed, a running theme in White Noise, with the idea of Gray and Babette that Jack decides to kill him. Babette's influence over Jack is more distant in this case, it is more the influence of her actions. He has such adoration for her that he would kill another man in a way that created "maximum visceral agony". The influence of a wife can be indirect, but still impactful over her husband's actions, like in White Noise.
    - - Babette and Jack are constantly worried about which of the two of them is going to die first. They are under the belief that one could not function without the other, it just depends on who is first. This seems to be the beginning of both of their obsessions with the idea of dying. The influence of losing his wife causes Jack to constantly think about what he would do if she dies first. He would much rather die first than go on without Babette. Her influence in his everyday life leads Jack to always think about his own death.
- - - - Tayo's aunt raised him after his mother abandoned him, but there was always a disconnect between them. She raised Tayo because she felt like the had to, not because she wanted to do it. His aunt was definitely not a replacement for a mother figure in his life. She was alwasy ashamed that Tayo had come back from war, sick like he was, and her son did not. I feel as if Tayo harbored a lot of that resentment and it affected his mental health even more. He seemed to always feel like a burden to his aunt, and she did not negate this feeling. Mother's are supposed to be a source fo comfort stereotypically, and Tayo never received that kind of care from his aunt. He probably felt more "crazy" than mentally ill because of the influence of his aunt's actions.
    - - Josiah seemed to be the only source of validation Tayo had growing up in his aunt's house. He was always proud that Josiah included him in business ventures or in everyday conversation. His uncle took on the father role, unlike his aunt who did not step into the maternal role. Josiah was that paternal person that Tayo needed growing up, I think that is why is affected him so greatly when Josiah passed. The positive influence Tayo got from his uncle was taken away, making the negative parts worse.
- - - - These are the words of Foy Cheshire right before he shoots Bonbon in the lovehandle. He compares Bonbon to his father, saying they are exactly the same. I kind of agree, but maybe in a different way. When the narrator was growing up, his father was constantly doing psychology experiments on him that seemed to have a goal of conditioning Bonbon into choosing black culture. Again and again, his father would get angry if his son did not pick the "black side". It is almost as if he was building segregation in his own home, which is exactly what Bonbon went on to do. His father's influence in his childhood seemed to work, although somewhat differently than intended In my opinion, I think Foy is right to say that in a way.
    - - Both of these quotes are phrases that Bonbon's father told him growing up. I think they impacted his actions throughout the rest of The Sellout. The question of "Who am I?" and "How may I become myself?" shows up many times in the novel, almost like a motif, especially towards the end. "People eat the shit you shovel them" reminds me of Bonbon's segregation of Dickens. Everyone in town kind of just went with it, no one really went against his plans. Bonbon seems to remember his father's words and they continue to influence his actions.
- - - - All three of these quotes are Haze's remembrance of the deaths of his family members. He is specifically focused on the coffins of his grandfather, father, and mother. After Haze gets out of the army, he has no home to return to because all of his family has a new home, in a coffin. As he states on page 13, the first coffin he had seen a body in had been his grandfather's, a retired preacher. Although Haze states many times he is not a preacher, he sure dresses and acts like one. This might be a way to connect with his grandfather and other deceased family in a weird way. His mother also still has influence on him through his fear of her being shut in the coffin and trying to escape. The influence that the lack of family has on Haze manifests itself in his actions throuhgout the novel as a "preacher" for the church without God and his death-like appearance.