An Analysis of David Foster Wallace a 34 Year Old Teacher at Illinois State University

David Foster Wallace, a 34 year old teacher at Illinois State University has been considered by many to be a literary it-boy. In his short stories he attempts to open up the reader to a world of reality. Through his writing he describes what the common writer refuses to write--the nature of topics and thoughts only spoken about indirectly. One of his favorite topics is addiction. Whether it be addiction to television, drugs, or even sex, he refuses to hide what society deems as immoral, but what is normal in America. The Oregon Voice inferred in an interview with Wallace by stating: Youve said in other interviews that living in America today is a sad thing (Oregon Voice Interview 1). In his well-known story called Girl With Curious Hair, he shows the reader through the doors of partying. Mind-altering drugs, promiscuous sex and dominant roles exist, just to name a few examples.

An example is in the story Girl With Curious Hair: ...she would attempt to keep my erect penis in her mouth for several minutes without having an orgasm, and that she would let me burn her with several matches on the backs of her legs, as well, as this made me very happy (Wallace 57). By this piece of work he stands, unwilling to denounce his creation. Frankly, he refuses to denounce any of his creations. Critics may pick here and there at his work, but this does not bother him in the slightest. Another commonality is that he never truly ends a story. He always leaves it unfinished and for the reader to decide for themselves how it will end. An example of this is also in the story Girl With Curious Hair:...Mr. Wonderful was doing something with the bright thing to the man who was the girls father (Wallace 74). Also in his stories, in the structure category, he comes into a situation very abruptly. This makes the reader have to go back and read the story again to make sure that their assumptions were correct.

Such as in the story called Here and There: Her photograph tastes bitter to me (Wallace 151). He also uses basic descriptions and doesnt go into any depth with his characters, he uses just plain circumstances to build their personalities. For example, from the story Girl With Curious hair: My name is Sick Puppy even though my name is really not (Wallace 56). Usually readers come away from the story either loving or hating the principal character, but with Wallace, that just isnt the case. He never seems to use plot in its essence, the paragraphs seem to all be jumbled together into one on-going rant. Such as in the story Luckily the Accountant Representative Knew CPR: The Account Representative and the Vice President in Charge of Overseas Production knew each other only slightly, and only by sight, and the Accountant Representative had removed his contact lenses in the mens room in Accounts before settling down into a long evening of close reading by white light (Wallace 47). It appears to me to be only mere observations.

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Neither is he clear about settings, and with this talent he would seem to be an ideal prospect for writing an episode for the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. An excerpt that illustrates this comes from his short story Here and There: By late May 1983 her emotional bus has pulled out. I find myself a need to get very away. To do a geographic (Wallace 153). Concerning conflict, it is broad, spacious and almost unseen....yet we still sense it is there. Conflict is demonstrated in this way in his short story Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR:...he was composing a carefully casual face, narrowing salutatory options towards a sort of landlocked Halloo that contained already an acknowledgement of distance and an easy willingness to preserve the same (Wallace 48). Another way authors show off their style is through patterns. Wallace has no recognizable patterns in his work. He is all over the spectrum. He jumps around and never forms any known method to his works. Wallaces fiction and use of the elements proves to be twisty. They catch you off guard and dont contain any good ending/bad ending, as we are normally used to seeing.

Others who have read his work are either fascinated or disgusted. I guess it depends on if you live in the real world or not. We do have to admit that many of us dont. As many know, Wallaces work deals a lot of the addictions we find everyday in our lives. Addiction is shown in this question stated in his story Here and There: A show of hands on the part of those who are willing to believe that I kiss her photo (Wallace 151). Maybe thats why some people view his work as offensive. He may be the only person who knows how naive and hypocritical humans are, and is able to speak his mind on the subject. Many also have said that Wallace may be an outsider but he is a genius in the literary plane. He deals with reality: The Vice President in Charge of Overseas Production, gargling, holding his chests recession, fell with a slow grace to the exhausted floor of the Executive Garage, where he proceeded to writhe. Luckily the Account Representative knew CPR (Wallace 49). He does not deal with moral issues or valuable lessons that we see in fairy tales and antidotes. All the things that America talks about are talked about indirectly, especially heated topics. We never actually come out with it. Wallace turns that around and talks about it with a shocking directness, as if he didnt have a care in the world. To be honest, he probably doesnt have one care in that bandanna-wrapped head of his.

I have enjoyed his style of writing, and his very open topics. Never have I seen a more open-minded and worldly brilliant writer. David Foster Wallace is one who can take what people consider to me non-mainstream and turn it into something beautiful and symbolically important to Generation X, not to mention generations to come. Wallace may not think that his writings will be read throughout the years, but we all know better. Ive always been a writer, and reading his works make me proud to produce my own in hopes of becoming exactly what I aspire to be. Something free and able to speak my opinion (and also to get paid for it). He makes me want to jump beyond myself without looking and go for it all. Im sure I am not the only who feels this way. I am so glad that I chose David Foster Wallace for my independent study author because there is truly no other that would intrigue me as much.

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