«Mathematically uncontrolled but humanly contained». David Foster Wallace's approach to dystopia
Abstract
David Foster Wallace wrote two dystopian novels, both set in a near future and depicting the same sort of disastrous political landscapes. This study aims to compare the two works, identifying similarities in the characters and plot between The Broom of the System (1987) and Infinite Jest (1996).
Besides showing the systematic repetition of patterns in DFW’s fiction – which is in itself relevant, as these repeated creative choices often move against the canon of the most famous dystopian novels – this comparison will outline how Andrew Lang from The Broom and Don Gately from Infinite Jest occupy the same positions within their respective character systems and how the difference between the two (Lang does not have morals, whereas Gately does) causes the “narrative equations” of these partially symmetrical books to diverge towards two opposite endings, allowing the possibility of a positive resolution in Infinite Jest that DFW’s first dystopic take failed to find.
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