The Futile Goal of Nicholas Branch in Don DeLillos Libra...

The vast amount of evidence associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, an event that occurred more than fifty years ago, is still being collected and examined by an array of scientists, professional historians, and conspiracy theorists. Periodically, with continuous developments and improvements in technology, new information is being discovered that either relates to an existing theory about the assassination or inspires additional assumptions about the identity and location of another supposed shooter. According to author Don DeLillo, the immense quantity of the information pertaining to the heinous crime committed in Dallas on November 22nd of 1963 will never lead to or reveal a comprehensive and conclusive†¦show more content†¦He feels as if he must make meaning out of all the material in his possession and so, because he does not know how to accomplish this, he remains perpetually immobile in his attempt to uncover and write the true history of th e assassination. Branch’s objective to investigate all the facts about the assassination places him in a chaotic situation. It is impossible for him to account for every detail, fact, and occurrence linked to Kennedy’s assassination because there is already too much information for him to examine and much that has yet to be discovered. Christopher M. Mott, in his essay â€Å"Libra and the Subject of History†, comments on Branch’s need for absolute closure and the chaotic results that arise: The novel implies that the version of the world that informs our government’s practices and dominates our episteme intends to account for every detail of existence. It employs a totalizing discourse, a discourse of rational examination and explanation. Libra clearly indicates that this penchant for total explanation leads, in fact, to total chaos. We simply cannot account for every detail, every nuance. (143) Branch’s desire to piece together the factual events of the assassination has led to his abandonment of life. He will forever be confined to his, as DeLillo describes, â€Å"room of theories† (57) since he must study everything about the event. However, the CIA is constantly supplying him