What is the message of Infinite Jest?
In Infinite Jest, addiction, mental illness, and suicide are not unusual or abnormal pathologies that affect only a select number of people. Instead, they are ubiquitous: every significant character in the novel seems to suffer from addiction or mental illness of some kind.
What is wrong with Hal in Infinite Jest?
Theories vary on what’s happened to Hal, but everyone seems to generally agree that he is feeling the effects of DMZ, the drug that caused a dosed convict to belt out Ethel Merman tunes every time he tried to speak. Hal too is losing control of what he is saying, but his manifestations are much less melodic.
What makes Infinite Jest postmodern?
Wallace identifies TV as quintessentially post-postmodern, where meaning is neutralized through a Fredric Jameson’s idea of pastiche–a kind of irony that only seeks to reference itself. The opening scene of Infinite Jest shows a young man unable to speak to adults, and unable to extoll his virtues.
What is DMZ in Infinite Jest?
Described as coming from a kind of mold that “grows on other molds,” DMZ is an incredibly powerful and mysterious hallucinogen. It can have many different effects but often seems to transform a person’s ability to communicate It is also nicknamed “Madame Psychosis,” after Joelle’s radio persona.
Did Orin send the entertainment?
Throughout most of the novel Orin is seemingly in possession of the master copy of the Entertainment and has been sending copies out to people (such as the medical attaché, presumably to punish him for his affair with Avril).
Is Avril Luria P?
First, it is noted that DuPlessis had relations with Avril at some point. As well, it notes that DuPlessis’ second in command was Luria P, who was notoriously beautiful (as is Avril in her old age), and was an amanuensis (something like a secretary/scribe, certainly fits Avril’s bill as a big grammarian)(p31).
Is Infinite Jest a great book?
It is very much a novel of its time. How is it, then, that “Infinite Jest” still feels so transcendentally, electrically alive? Theory 1: As a novel about an “entertainment” weaponized to enslave and destroy all who look upon it, “Infinite Jest” is the first great Internet novel.
Who is Don Gately?
Don Gately was a twenty-seven year-old oral narcotics addict (favoring meperidine and pentazocine, known to the casual as Demerol and Tal win) and alcoholic and burglar, and he was himself unclean and violated.
What happens to Gately at the end of Infinite Jest?
Clearly Gately dies of an infection at the end so it could be his ghost who is accompanying Hal to dig up the master.
Is Joelle Van Dyne deformed?
Despite Notkin’s unreliability, however, it is likely that Joelle was to some extent disfigured by acid, given Orin’s lack of interest in her following the incident and her repeated references to “the acid”.
What happens to Don Gately at the end of Infinite Jest?
– Don Gately recovers and accompanies Joelle and Hal to Quebec where they dig up Himself’s head to find Infinite Jest but somebody has already taken it.
What is infinite jest about?
Drawing heavily on philosophical traditions, Infinite Jest explores the tensions between the individual and society, freedom and responsibility, mind and body, and discipline and entertainment.
How many pages is Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace?
Infinite Jest is a 1996 novel by David Foster Wallace comprising about 1,000 pages in addition to 388 endnotes. Time Magazine listed the novel as one of the 100-best English novels written between 1923 and 2005.
Why does steeply interview Orin in Infinite Jest?
The real reason Steeply interviews Orin is to gauge whether he knows the whereabouts of the film Infinite Jest and to learn as much about the Incandenza family as possible, even suspecting that they may be somehow involved in Quebecois separatism (Avril Incandenza is a Quebecois Canadian citizen).
What sport did John Wick play in Infinite Jest?
Like several of the characters in Infinite Jest, he was a competitive junior tennis player.