Shiman Zhang

Professor Matthew Bond

Engl 001C

5th June, 2021

Conspiracy theme in Libra

Libra is a historical fiction novel that gives his account of the assassination of John F.

Kennedy that was written by Don DeLillo in 1988. This novel primarily follows the life of a

character known as Oswald, from his early years up to his death. The novel combines both

fiction and history in an amazing form of symbiosis. The author has a very unique presentation

style of the fictional story represented as a historical thriller. The author uses the inspiration of

actual historical events and characters to develop a plot around them on what might have

happened in December 1963 in Dallas. Throughout the novel, the author is attentive to ensure

that politics and history play through by intermingling functional and real characters, and actual

and imagined events. Therefore, the main theme in this novel is the conspiracy that surrounds the

president’s assassination.

Don DeLillo is not a stranger to conspiracy, as he has written several other works with the

same themes including great jones street (1973) and running dog (1988). Several scholars have

tried to cover the importance of the conspiracy themes in the novel and our communities.

CHNANI et al. (50) believe that the conspiracy theme is a real-life interpretation in the

postmodern society that no longer believes in religion, although they want a desire to bring the

world into order. DeLillo uses the novel Libra to illustrate the absence of truth in this age of

knowledge and information and the problems it brings about. In the novel, he uses Kennedy’s

assassination to show how our culture yearns for closure and plots. Willman, (410) states that

when the society does not believe in the authorities or government, they create sorts of

conspiracies that will explain the situation. DeLillo illustrates a false dichotomy that brings about

illusions of security and therefore leading to an inadequate explanation of events. In the novel,

even with all the theories and documents, the characters are not closer to knowing the truth. The

character Nicholas branch reinforces the theory of conspiracy. He states “If we are on the

outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. Silent nameless men with

unadorned hearts. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not.” (DeLillo, 440)

Coale, (15) points out that our culture loves variety, possibility, and mystery, however, we

continue to search for answers and knowledge. DeLillo takes readers away from narratives that

provide answers and therefore offering a chance of possibility and chance to reign. Nicholas

branch is a character who plays as a theorist and researcher and is contracted by the FBI to find

answers about the assassination. As the novel starts, we are made to believe that branch also

believes that there is a chance of conspiracy. Branch comes to the conclusion that there is no

enough amount of evidence to prove whether Kennedy’s assassination theories were true or false.

DeLillo introduces the element of chance into the conspiracy surrounding Kennedy’s

assassination to show that there are things that are always out of our control. The most important

aspect of the conspiracy theme in this novel is how it shows the overall effect of conspiracy in

our communities and culture. Libra through the theme of conspiracy shows us how it has

impacted our communities to a level that we have cultural paranoia. Not getting the solutions or

answers about the events that happened in Dallas, leaves us with theories and conspiracies

pertaining to the assassination