Infinite Jest #3

Alright, let’s talk teeth.  As you may have realized I stole the name of my blog from a title of James Incandenza’s films.  Fun with Teeth is about a dentist who “performs sixteen unanesthetized root-canal procedures on an academic he suspects of involvement with his wife,” (987).  Then we have Hal, whose has suffered from tooth pain through the book, finally having a removal by Dr. Zegarelli, (508, 526).  The dentist who has such terrible bad breath that you can smell it through his mask, which seems like a sign you might want to find a new dentist.  Then the dream Hal describes to Mario “I dreamed I was losing my teeth.  I dreamed that my teeth dry-rotted somehow into shale and splintered when I ate or spoke, and I was jettisoning fragments all over the place…” (770).  So what is the deal with the teeth?  Well I have a theory and it has to do with my obsession with Hal’s buddy Schacht.  Schacht has proven to handle the challenges and changes in his life with a level of maturity and Zen-like calm that eludes Hal.  Hal describes back on pg. 269-270, how Hal envies Schacht for his ability to accept the fact that he will never make it to the Show and is basically wasting his time at the Academy.  This fear, among many others, has fed Hal’s drug use.  And what profession has Schacht chosen to pursue instead, dentistry.  He even interns twice a week when not on tour.  My theory being that Hal has people in his life setting a positive example for him, demonstrating to him ways of behavior that he could be emulating.  He ignores all those, perhaps because of a possible depression or because of the drugs, and continues to make bad decisions.  Maybe Schacht is the anti-Hal or Hal without the traumatic childhood.  Okay it’s not a perfect theory, but then what do you think of the teeth?

Infinite Jest #2

If as the saying goes the devil’s in the details, then this particular section is its own circle of hell.  We begin by learning the basics of rehab and drug use.  We get a list of tattoos.  We follow the boys through their various tennis matches, and examine each one’s rankings and abilities.  Then the mother of all detailed sequences: Eschaton.  The description of this insanely complicated game (it can only be calculated using a computer program!) goes on for pages.  Why David Foster Wallace why?  It feels too easy to say that he is choosing to write in a way that is uncomfortable to a reader.  When a fictional story begins to read like a textbook or instructional manual the reader is jolted and must reorient themselves.  Sure it is a challenge, but it can also feel like an assault.  I have to look to the sections in between these endlessly detailed sections and find human nature pushing there way back into the novel.  The complicated game of Eschaton devolves into a violent fight between the students.  We are given a literal peek behind the curtains of the tennis matches to see the anxiety before a match.  As Gately begins to learn more about his residents they defy the “rules” that were previously established in the text.  Then Wallace is providing us with both the surface (bland numbers and complex rules) and the depth that connects the reader to the characters.  Why both?  It is going to sound awfully sensitive, but perhaps there is a deeper theme about communication emerging here.  How many problems could be solved and relationships improved if characters spoke to/confronted each other?  Instead of focusing on rankings, numbers, rules they could be confronting various characters about their drug use.  Hal could be dealing with his traumatic history etc.  They would rather play games then be honest with each other.  It is easier to give into your demons then to face them.