Themes

In this chapter, you can get a grasp of the most important themes in Don DeLillo's 2007 novel Falling Man:

Structure: How is the complex structure of the novel to be understood? Here, we explain why the structure with the changing points of view and the fragmented storylines are crucial for the novel. We also look at the structure as a post-modern characteristic.

Terrorism: How does the theme "terrorism" manifest in the novel? In this section, we describe how the characters Hammad and Martin Ridnour contribute to the terror theme in the novel.

Media: In Don Delillo's novel, the media are a major theme. Lianne tries to understand the horrors of the terror attacks with the help of newspapers and television broadcasts while Justin misunderstands the information that the media provide.

Forgetting and remembering: An important theme in the novel is forgetting and remembering. How do Keith, Hammad and Justin try to repress the events and the past respectively from their memory? And how does Lianne, on the contrary, try not to forget? These are questions that we explore in this section.

Mortality: Mortality is a theme that permeates the novel from the first page to the last. In this section, you can learn how the theme of mortality is expressed in the novel; which role the still life painting of Morandi plays, and how Lianne and Kieth are confronted with their mortality.