In Chapter ten, David Foster Wallace walks us through a peculiar AA meeting in Boston with detailed descriptions of the entire place, the speakers, and how some newcomers are preparing to get their “cages” examined in public.
As the speakers start taking turns travelling down memory lane, reminiscing about all the thing they lost due to the addiction. There is a pattern that becomes way too significant to ignore.
The AA group is a safe place where there is no space for judgments nor criticism.
Everyone can fail over and over again and would have the unconditional support of the group no matter what.
Some people have been going there for years and years knowing that no matter how many times they may fall on the bandwagon again, there will always be an unlimited supply of empathy towards their addiction.
But here’s the interesting part, they all seem how each one of them quickly mention their “cage” and immediately move on to list all the things they lost because of it, and all the pain it still causes them as they speak.
In short, everyone talks about the addiction, but no one ever talks about the reasons that may have caused it.
That was until a new member arrives and then all of the sudden, she starts talking about her “cage” and the reasons that primarily caused her addiction in the first place.
And immediately, everything changes. Empathy has left the room and outrage is taking over.
It turns out, and much to her surprise that no one was actually interested in facing their demons, they only wanted others to feel empathy for their addiction.
And just like that, there was no more empathy left for her, because she reminded them that they too have a demon they need to face and a cage that they need to escape from.
“Every family has a skeleton in the closet. Some are more closely guarded. Hope you find yours, before it finds you.”
― Neil Strauss, The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book about Relationships
The first time we’ve read the word “Cage” repeated so many times was when we were first introduced to Joelle and her drug-induced Alter ego, Madame Psychosis.
In that chapter, Joelle had decided that it was time for her to escape her cage. She had some demons to face and she didn’t want to face them alone.
She went to a party to be surrounded by dozens of people, only to end up feeling even lonelier.
Life is Full of Paradoxes.
Jolene’s cage was mostly made by her childhood memories, memories she can’t seem to escape.
Her best memories are those where her father used to take her to the movies when she was a kid, and which is probably the main reason she became an actress in the first place.
The problem however is that Jolene’s most traumatic memories are also in the movies where her father was molesting her while watching Raquel Welch’s movies.
Back at the meeting, that young woman is still speaking in the AA meeting, she’s describing some truly horrific memories from her childhood.
She recounts how her father used to sexually abuse her paraplegic sister while covering her face with Raquel Welch masks.
As we’re trying to tie in the dots with the Raquel Welch connection, the name of the speaker is finally revealed as we realize that her name tag reads Jolene V.D.
It’s obvious now, it is in fact Jolene Van Dyne, and with that revelation, the mystery gets bigger.
Could Jolene’s paraplegic sister be some sort of alter personality that was created to shield herself from the pain? Is that the reason she used to resent her sister as well due to her inability to move, calling her a “vegetable”?
After all, Jolene is an only child as far as we know.
But here’s a real matrix moment:
What if the Madame Psychosis persona was more than some alter personality that was created recently as a consequence of mind-altering drugs, but rather it was lying under the surface for a long time as a consequence of a childhood trauma?
What if addiction was not the main chore of the problem, but rather just the consequence?
And more importantly, what are your thoughts on the subject?
We would love to hear your thoughts on the subject, but meanwhile here’s the recording to the entire session Last week’s meeting:
https://soundcloud.com/user-655948001/infinite-jest-session-10-of-the-steemit-book-club
Details for the next meeting:
Book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Reading Assignment: Chapter Eleven “YEAR OF THE DEPEND ADULT UNDER-GARMENT” (pages 379-418)
Date: Monday, May 22nd
Start Time: 6:00 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST / 2 a.m. GMT
Call Length: One hour.
Phone Access: (800) 719-6100 or (218) 339-7800, access code 629-1831#
Web Audio Access (sound quality isn't generally as good as phone): https://hello.freeconference.com/conf/call/6291831
P.S. You can these links to help guide you as you read Infinite Jest:
http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/oneill/Infinite.htm (THIS LINK HAS SPOILERS)
http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Main_Page#Page_by_Page_Annotations (No spoilers)
Best,
