Postmodernism Literature the Novel "Crash" Essay

Violence should best be seen in the context of an individual alienation caused, most likely, both by the apparent lack of moral norms and, at the same time, by the continuous development of the individual, in a constant quest for the absolute (and this can be the absolute feeling, the absolute perception, the absolute manifestations and sensations etc.).

With the underlying belief that everything is permitted, the modern or the postmodern individual is willing to go along with all types of experiments that are likely to help in his quest for continuous development. The sexual fetish presented here is clearly abnormal, especially since it is not a remote sexual practice, but the individual permissiveness allows for this to happen. At the same time, it almost becomes a new normality for the group, a normality which is accepted as such (or rather not discussed) by the group. This new normality accepts all things that are seen as abnormalities by the other members of society. This could be a thesis that Ballard supports throughout the novel: the relativism of normality, the incapacity of accepting a basic set of clearly valid and generally accepted moral norms.

Further more, the novel seems to imply that the postmodern individual will eventually resume his existence to a single important objective during his lifetime: feeling good. In order to reach this objective, the postmodern man will resort to any type of instruments that will help him reach that particular stage of development.However, a society where the only primary objective of its members is to physically 'feel good' in any conditions and without any other values is definitely a corrupt and reduced society.

One word on the subject of celebrities in Ballard's book. Once more the author becomes a visionary, because the obsession with celebrity has increased exponentially from 1973 to the present day. In the book, the main character has an obsession with Elizabeth Taylor, dreaming of a crash into her car. The attempt fails at the end of the book, as he plunges over a bus instead. What is with this fascination with celebrities? It is born out of the consumer society that promotes such values, but also from the subconscious need of individuals to have some static coordinates around which one's life can rotate. The postmodern world is a consumer society, one in which celebrities can offer such false….....