Infinite Jest

“I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies.”

Hal’s opening line illustrates the extent to which he has become alienated. He can no longer see people as individuals; he only sees physical “heads and bodies” (3) that occupy space in his direct vicinity. Through a combination of upbringing and substance use, Hal has become so withdrawn that he is unable to form human connections to those around him. Instead, they are just objects.

“To say nothing of the arresting image of the idolatrous West’s most famous and self-congratulating idol, the colossal Libertine Statue, wearing some type of enormous adult-design diaper.”

The consumerism and corporatism of the society depicted in Infinite Jest is illustrated by the depiction of an American icon turned into a giant commercial. The Statue of Liberty, like the names of the years themselves, is transformed into an advertising opportunity. In the context of the novel, the characters no longer have anything that is free from the touch of consumerism. Even something as historic and distinct as a famous landmark is now an opportunity to sell a product to the American people.

“It’s more like horror. It’s like something horrible is about to happen, the most horrible thing you can imagine—no, worse than you can imagine because there’s the feeling that there’s something you have to do right away to stop it but you don’t know what it is you have to do, and then it’s happening, too, the whole horrible time, it’s about to happen and also it’s happening, all at the same time.”

Throughout the novel, the characters experience a constant sense of unease that they struggle to describe. The state of their society causes many of them turn to drugs and other addictions to provide some semblance of meaning or comfort in a horrifying world. This nebulous, indescribable horror permeates everything.