Supermarkets this large and clean and modern are a revelation to me. I spent my life in small steamy delicatessens with slanted display cabinets full of trays that hold soft wet lumpy matter in pale colours. High enough cabinets so you had to stand on tiptoes to give your order. Shouts, accents. In cities no one notices specific dying. Dying is a quality of the air. It's everywhere and nowhere. Men shout as they die to be noticed, remembered for a second or two. To die in an apartment instead of a house can depress the soul, I would imagine, for several lives to come. In a town there are houses, plants in bay windows. People notice dying better. The dead have faces, automobiles. If you don't know a name you know a street name, a dog's name. 'He drove an orange Mazda.' You know a couple of useless things about a person that become major facts of identification and cosmic placement when he dies suddenly, after a short illness, in his own bed, with a comforter and matching pillows, on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, feverish, a little congested in the sinuses and chest, thinking about his dry cleaning. Don DeLillo
About This Quote

John Updike uses this quote to describe the fact that modern supermarkets, with their clean and efficient services, can be a complete shock to someone who lived in a small market in a different era. In modern day society, it is possible for us to make the world a better place without having to work for it or fight for it. In the case of this quote, Mr. Updike was describing the death of his neighbor from a heart attack in their home.

The man was very sick and died right in his bed, where he had spent a large portion of his life. Instead of being sick and dying in a hospital or at home, Mr. Updike's neighbor went back to his own bed where he was comfortable and at home.

As a result, the way Mr. Updike saw things changed as he realized how much better things could be if they were all made more comfortable and efficient.

Source: White Noise

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