Introduction
David Foster Wallace was an American writer whose work includes novels, essays, and short stories. He is a professor of creative writing. His most famous work was his novel Infinite Jest, and The Pale Cream. He has been recognized by various institutions and persons for his elaborate work in the development of English literature. Wallace work include both fiction and non-fiction work. His work is mostly concerned in moving beyond the metafiction and the irony that is associated with postmodernism. Some of his other nonfiction works include the John McCain 2000 presidential bid and the September 11 attacks. We shall begin by elaborating on the difference between the fiction and nonfiction literatures in the section below. Characterization in general refers to the way the author portrays the characters in a story. It can be direct or in direct. A direct way is when an author expressly gives the character trait of the character while indirect is where the author shows the characters in directly through their actions, thoughts and speeches. In a non-fiction story, the author is expresses the details of the factual account that happened at a particular time. Thus, most of the judgment calls and thoughts are his own. Therefore, in a non-fiction story, we can be able to deduce the character trait of the author. In this paper, we shall analyze the author’s character based on the thoughts, ideas and speeches given in the texts. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze David Foster Wallace’s authorial persona based on one of his story - A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll never do again.
Non-fiction prose writing is a narrative form whose creators believe that the accounts they are presenting are accurate. They thus assume the responsibility for delivering an accurate verdict of the information that is being presented. Non-fiction narrative can either be presented objectively or subjectively. Thus, the content may or may not be accurate. However, the authors of the accounts genuinely believe that the account were accurate and poses them as historically factual. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again is 1997 non-fiction literal work by David Foster Wallace. The story describes the ordeal of a seven days ship cruise journey to the Caribbean. He narrates how the guests were perfectly treated by hospitality personnel. Instead of being happy and appreciating the professional treatment that was accorded to him, he express his displeasure and despair over the services that were accorded to them.
The story opens with the author giving a vivid description of the place and purpose of him being there. He is waiting to get on board to a cruise ship. This captures his observant character. He narrates of the places he has been in a snap chat and manages to capture even the minute details of such adventures. He is able to give detailed accounts of even the ratio of cruise members to workers and elaborate on the impeccable services that they were receiving. Observing the environment, the sun shine, and the general atmosphere in the place enabled us to get a clear account of how he felt at the start. He was keen to the directors’ behavior and attitude when he describes his role as just that of assuring those on board that they were having a good time. Wallace was quick to point out the indifference between the services offered by different companies.
His defiance nature is introduced in this excerpt where he is of the centrally opinion to the general perception that guests in a cruise ship are having fun. His defiance nature leads him to explore the other side of being on board in a cruise ship that is not known to many. He introduces this centrally inquire with a story in Chicago where a 16 years old boy had committed suicide on board of a ship. He also query the way news are reported insinuating that they do not capture all the details of the events. In his curious mind, he elaborates the live in the ship especially at night where all the fun activities have ceased and everyone has retired to their cribs. He describes the experience as unbearably sad, to the extent that he termed the feeling as despair. He was however cautious and indicated that despair is a serious word but he was not using it seriously in this case. This complex mixture of feeling he summed it up as “wanting to jump overboard,” upon realization of how small, weak and selfish leading on a path to death. This contrarily view introduces him as an opinionated man. He holds high his opinion and will not shy off from giving it out, regardless how off the norms it is. Like in this case, everyone goes on a cruise ship to have fun and get away from the boredom of routine, which is experienced in the daily paradigm. He was able to look at the other side of the coin, in spite of the fact that everyone was focused on the happy side.
His observant nature is also exemplified in page 263 where he describes the ocean as “enormous engine of decay”. He gives details of how boats and ships that travels at high speed are later corroded by the same water that it cruises in. The cruise ship is structured to have fun with limitless options where those on board are treated with various entertainment options. His third eye for details is exemplified by how he describes the experience in the ship, “indulgence becomes easy, relaxation become second nature, and stress becomes a faint memory.” He also describes the brochures that are used in the advertisement vividly capturing all the details promised there and then comparing that with the reality at the ground. In his utterances, he concur that they actually deliver what they promised. The mixture of joy as people enjoy the offered packages, alongside with the enthusiastic professional personnel makes the reality blurred.
Wallace is portrayed as antisocial in the story. As from the beginning, he introduces himself in a cafeteria waiting to get on board to a cruise ship. Normally, this would be moment to socialize and get to get to know some few people that one will be spending time with for the next couple of days. He elaborates how he spent time on board analyzing how other people were feeling, how the being on board the cruise ship made them feel, how the ocean was deadly and the after math of the daily entertainment packages.
Wallace can be termed as pessimistic, in the story; he is always looking at the other side of the coin and trying to explore the negativities in it. As exemplified in the theme in the story, instead of having fun as it was expected like the rest of the guests that were there, he spent most of the time looking at how they behave, and thinking of how he is small in comparison to the majestic ocean that is beneath them. He portrays this character even from his childhood memories when he thought of oceans as deadly. Majority of people view oceans as sandy beaches, swimming, sun shine and having fun. Wallace on the contrarily, he viewed the ocean as deadly. He kept records of death counts that occurred as a result of shark attacks and want to instill the same notion to the students that he teaches.
In the story, there are some instances where he demonstrated acts of kindness towards the clue members. At one point, he declined an offer from a crew member who wanted to carry his bag and instead decided to carry himself. The fact that he was observing them and even attempting to understand why they were zealous in their job pampering the members on board is an indication that perhaps he sympathizes with them and thus he is well aware of the contribution that they were making. He did not identify with the crème in the society but instead chose to take an independent position and observe what happens on board. He is adventurous in that he took up the cruise journey to quench his curiosity. On board, he was trying different food and as well different entertainment packages that that were accorded to them. An example is when he tried out Skeetshooting in page 344 just to quench his curiosity.
Wallace’s character traits are not only found in this A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again story alone. They are also portrayed in other literal work that he has been involved in. They are consistent and thus a true depiction of the author and author ownership of the story. Below is a short review of one of his other stories that he portrays his unique characters in the story Greatly Exaggerated.
The story opens with the author authoritatively explaining the difference between the writer and the author. He uses a series of examples of traditional texts to take his point home. Thus, we can say that Wallace is defiance and authoritative. He openly reject the traditional notions that an author does not own the texts and it is the responsibility of the readers to deceiver the meanings from the literal texts. He likened the idea that the author does to own the texts and that they writer for the audiences to monkeys being given typewriters to type an encyclopedia. They will produce the content, but they have no idea of its meaning and thus they do not own it. The paragraph thus introduces a concept of real authors who, “first, accepts the responsibility of the text and second “owns” that text. He openly refute previous claims such as Barthes, who asserted that it is not possible for an author to know the full consequences of the texts in order to held responsible for it. He criticizes the literal critics that dethrone the authors’ authority in the text. This detachment leaves the texts at the disposal of the readers and they can deduce any meaning as they deem fit.
Wallace’s argument about the ownership of the text is elaborated in details and cites various philosophical discussions. He also emphasizes the tendencies by the audiences to trust speech as they are immediate and one can respond to any claim promptly. This portrays him as observant. It introduces his character trait as a person who pays attention to the happenings around him. This is also exemplified in the core story where the author is on a seven day cruise ship and observes how the professional workers interact with the people. In his utterances, he indicates that the people are reflection. He observes how people are given proper care to the extent that they feel not deserving such attentions. This infuriates them and the anger is directed towards the service givers. Thus, the story revolves about his observant behavior and shows how he has an eye for details, whether it is in text forms, physical observation or even critically reviewing the literal works of the previous authors. His critical observation is exemplified in the literal quote (p. 141) where he cites Hix’s work; previously, the text was a cloth to be unraveled by the reader; if the cloth was unwounded all the way, the reader will find the author holding the other end.” He then compares that statement to the Barthes’ assertion that texts are detached from the author. His authoritative language again comes to light. He liken Barthes claim by saying even “no one, not even a corpse, is holding the other end.” The use of strong language is seen as a way of commanding the audience to agree with his position that literal texts are owned by the author, and that he is responsible for their meaning.
His defiance and opinionated characters come to play in (p. 141). He summarizes Hix’s work while pointing out the areas where the presented information has some deficits. In his opinionated character, he isolates three of Hix’s ideas and offers his opinion on them where he disagrees with two and agrees with one position. He analyzes Hix’s work while criticizing his approach and pointing out areas where the information was not complete or where it was inaccurate. His opinionated character is also found in page 143, where Wallace describe Hix’s work as “less sensible and way way less fun.” His use of belittling and strong language towards other scholars in an attempt to discredit their theories can termed as burry. Thus, Wallace can be said to be “academically burry.”
Works Cited
Wallace, David F. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1997. Print.
