As with much of DeLillo's work, Mao II is situated within its contemporary social and political context. Throughout the novel, the death of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the civil war in Lebanon, the advances in consumer technology, the rise of international terrorism, and the peculiar practices of the Unification Church are all employed as plot points. By this measure, Mao II is distinctly of its era: the last decade of the second millennium.
At the center of Mao II is the question of devotion and fanaticism. Be it religious, ideological or inter-personal, DeLillo suggests throughout the novel that humans possess the innate will to commit themselves wholly to any number of movements, notions, or beliefs. For example, Karen offers up her freedom and individuality to become a member of the Unification Church, just as George Haddad goes to great lengths to subscribe to the Maoist political cause. The most striking example of this is scene of Ayatollah Khomeini's funeral, when millions follow his casket in riotous conditions. DeLillo does not attempt to provide an answer as to why humankind has the propensity to delve into group fanaticism, yet he believes it will only increase as time progresses, given that "the future belongs to crowds."
Amidst this wave of hive mindedness, DeLillo also presents a character that is capable of independent action. The protagonist of Mao II, Bill Gray, is a reclusive author struggling to complete his latest novel. For the previous several decades, he has eschewed all attention from the press and has not had his photo published in over twenty years. This stands in stark contrast to the members of the Unification Church, like Karen, marrying by the thousands in Madison Square Garden, or the image of Chairman Mao posted all around the globe. At the same time, Gray cannot avoid creating his own following of fanatics. Characters like Scott stalk him to profess their admiration, perhaps bolstered by Gray's reluctance to be found.
Gray's eventual choice to be photographed by Brita broaches the central importance of the image in the novel. Across the text, there are several extended ruminations on the nature of images and image-making. On one hand, photographs are a means of identity-crafting. They prove existence, as intended to prove that Bill is not dead as rumor suggests. They also possess propagandistic qualities, as in the case of Abu Rashid's face displayed prominently in the slums of Beirut, or Warhol's work on Chairman Mao. The paramount interrogation of imagery analysis arrives when Scott and Karen study the printed photos of Bill. Although Bill has left them and they believe he will not return, they find a closeness with him while staring at the photos. As the case with fanaticism and devotion, however, no conclusion to this inquiry can be found. As Scott ponder, "he didn't want to move too soon into a theory of how much meaning a photo can bear."
The role of Bill Gray, the novel's protagonist, also offers insight into the ways in which DeLillo views the craft of writing and the life of an author. Gray is tortured by his latest novel. He knows it is a flawed project, though he spends hours each day rewriting each page. He visualizes the book following him around in a disfigured form, and begins to drink heavily to cope with the stress. While the likeness between Gray and DeLillo himself cannot be guaranteed, it is clear that DeLillo understands the psyche of the troubled and afflicted author, in a position where writing is not so much a passion, bur a compulsion.
Although a quarter of a century has elapsed between the publication of the book and the current day, the novel has not lost its thematic depth and analytical richness. Although the situation in Lebanon has changed and technology has dramatically evolved since George Haddad was preaching the values of the word processor, the novel's exploration of devotion, image-making, and authorship extend beyond any singular era.
