"Where Everything Converges to a Point": Conspiracy as narrative model in Don DeLillo's fiction

Abstract

This article examines the role played by conspiracy in Don DeLillo's fiction. As the author of novels in which plots are often central thematic elements, he has been frequently associated to this term in academic writing. My aim is to go beyond the usual politic al and sociological readings of conspiracy in his work in order to offer a rhetorical and narratological interpretation. I will claim that conspiracy can work as a principle of organization in his novel s, determining narrative structures and reading strategies. I will analyze the figurative language associated to conspiracy and the ways in which it can be said to shape the narrative structure of many of DeLillo's novels. Finally, the ethical implications of this kind of narrative will be briefly addressed, following the idea that conspiracy in fiction can offer relief to the anxiety and uncertainty provoked by particular historical events.