A long moment passed before I realized that this was the name of an automobile. The truth only amazed me more. The utterance was beautiful and mysterious, gold-shot with looming wonder. It was like the name of an ancient power in the sky, tablet-carved in cuneiform. It made me feel that something hovered. But how could this be? A simple brand name, an ordinary car. How could these near-nonsense words, murmured in a child's restless sleep

Question

Jaylene Gallegos

English

7 February, 04:57

A long moment passed before I realized that this was the name of an automobile. The truth only amazed me more. The utterance was beautiful and mysterious, gold-shot with looming wonder. It was like the name of an ancient power in the sky, tablet-carved in cuneiform. It made me feel that something hovered. But how could this be? A simple brand name, an ordinary car. How could these near-nonsense words, murmured in a child's restless sleep

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Callie Simon · Answer 1

This question is incomplete, here's the complete question

White Noise, by Don DeLillo

"I was convinced she was saying something, fitting together units of stable meaning. I watched her face, waited. Ten minutes passed. She uttered two clearly audible words, familiar and elusive at the same time, words that seemed to have a ritual meaning, part of a verbal spell or ecstatic chant. Toyota Celica. A long moment passed before I realized this was the name of an automobile. The truth only amazed me more. The utterance was beautiful and mysterious, gold-shot with looming wonder. It was like the name of an ancient power in the sky, tablet-carved in cuneiform. It made me feel that something hovered. But how could this be? A simple brand name, an ordinary car. How could these near-nonsense words, murmured in a child's restless sleep, make me sense a meaning, a presence? She was only repeating some TV voice. Toyota Corolla, Toyota Celica, Toyota Cressida. Supranational names, computer-generated, more or less universally pronounceable. Part of every child's brain noise, the substatic regions to deep to probe. Whatever its source, the utterance struck me with the impact of a moment of splendid transcendence. I depend on my children for that."

Why is this quote significant?

Answer:

Steffie mumbling "Toyota Celica" in her sleep shows the constant presence of technology as threatening and comforting at the same time, which is a prevailing theme in DeLillo's novel.

Explanation:

In the same way that the airborne toxic cloud of dangerous chemicals paradoxically creates beautiful sunsets, Jack finds beauty at those marketing terms in the voice of the sleeping child.