Abstract:
End Zone (1972), by Don DeLillo, is about nuclear war and college football; here, metaphor is used to show the interchangeability between the two. Gary Harkness is the narrator, a man obsessed with nuclear war. Preparation and escalation are key concepts used to describe the winning season Harkness and his teammates are having at Logos College in Texas, until they lose the "big game." Then a sense of the unspeakable permeates Logos, as no one wants to discuss the results of the game. DeLillo brilliantly conceals the fact that the United States has entered a nuclear war. Metaphor becomes literal after physical signs of nuclear blast and fallout become apparent.My purpose is to explain many of the physical signs--disguised and blatant--that the unspeakable has occurred. Events suggesting that thermonuclear war has occurred include: refugees, a blasted landscape, the walking wounded, war games, hair loss, suicide, and refugees.
