The Media: Fact or fiction

The role of the media in portraying the horror of the 9/11 events is essential to Don DeLillo’s novel, Falling Man.  All over the world, people were able to follow the attacks live on TV. From the moment Keith shows up at Lianne’s doorstep, it becomes clear that she has a hard time comprehending that what she has just watched on TV is what Keith has just witnessed. She feels that she has to protect him from the media: “She turned off the TV set, not sure why, protecting him from the news he’d just walked out of […]” (p. 87, ll. 9-11)[1]

Lianne’s difficulty in distinguishing between what is her reality and what is the media is also evident when she finds herself watching a poker tournament on TV in hope of getting a glimpse of her husband who is actually sitting in the room next door: “She hit the mute button and looked at the players seated around the tables as the camera slowly swept the room and she realized that she was waiting to see Keith.”(p. 213, ll. 16-18, ch. 12)

This could indicate that she counts on the media to make her fe...