Through Karen, DeLillo exposes the reader to the suffering of the masses. Karen seems to be the only character interested in others apart from herself. Yet, she remains incapable of following through. Her explorations and attempts to make a connection with the masses and crowds, which allure her so grandly, lead her to nowhere. Chapter 12 could be considered the last significant appearance of Karen’s character in the novel and we learn a lot about her cares and how “She was trying out the voices in her head” (176).
In chapter 12, Karen tries to absorb the world, or the part of the world that interests her while staying in NYC. During her stay at Brita’s loft, she chooses to follow some characters in the streets of New York that allows us to see the complexities that torment her and an almost climatic moment occurs at the end of this chapter that suggests Karen has made a decision or transformed from a passive observer into a believer all over again, or a crazy for that matter. Then, of course, DeLillo must come in and kill it all with the anti-climatic Karen of chapter 14, the real final scene of her character.
I chose to speak of both chapters as her last appearance because it seems to me that DeLillo didn’t follow the rule of privilege, her appearance in chapter 14 diminishes her. Her last appearance is better analyzed in the light of her previous performance in other chapters especially in opposition with her chapter 12 development.
Karen is attracted to the ordinary, non-celebrity, untalented, anonymous masses. She seeks that “discharge” spoken by Canetti in the essay Crows and Power. She seeks unity under one guidance. To achieve it, she first denies herself and becomes one in a mass through her religion, then, when forcefully removed from it, she drifts into living a life without a purpose, barely there, seeking communion with the only two figures around her. In seek of that unity; she becomes the lover of two men who just allow her to hang around there. But she remains allured by the news in the way that allows her to envision a larger crow; it captures humanity as a mass of suffering.
In her stay in NYC, she is fascinated by those who have lost their identity and became an anonymous representation of human decay, those without a voice, like her, just hanging out through the day. A question comes to mind: how are all these unfit characters in the novel related to one another? Is Delillo trying to compare the main characters in the novel with those lost souls in the streets? Karen seems to be only character not overly impressed by Bill Gray’s celebrity status. She seems to be interested in something deeper although not sure what or not firm enough to pursue it. While the last scene of chapter 12 presents a Karen who might have found a purpose, a powerful and determined Karen, “Karen came down from the stage and looked for someone who might listen. She had master’s total voice in her head” (194). Chapter 14 presents a defeated Karen. She went back to Scott’s arms. How did that happen? DeLillo makes a great display of non-transitions all the way through this novel but this is one of the most troubling. In her last scene, she is submissive to Scott, who is perfectly aware of their mismatch. Karen’s attitude is that of a resigned and she cares only about whether they will be able to remain in Bill’s house, not even about Bill’s well being. She who is so caring about people won’t even care about one of her lovers. While I say that DeLillo might have ignored the rule of privilege, the significance of Karen’s last appearance is interrelated to her movement through the story. She contradicts herself by remaining in the same state she has been for the past five years.