Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest

by

David Foster Wallace

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Infinite Jest makes teaching easy.

Avril Incandenza Character Analysis

Avril is the mother of Orin, Mario, and Hal, and the wife of James. She is from Québec, and while she was in graduate school was involved with leftist separatists, which caused her problems in getting an American visa (these problems were resolved through her marriage to James). She is beautiful and intelligent, but also overly-protective and controlling. During her marriage to James she had numerous affairs, including with “over thirty Near Eastern medical attachés,” her stepbrother Charles, and possibly even Orin. She engages in a prolonged sexual relationship with E.T.A. student John Wayne while he is below the age of consent. Professionally, Avril runs E.T.A along with Charles. Avril’s sons nickname her “the Moms.”

Avril Incandenza Quotes in Infinite Jest

The Infinite Jest quotes below are all either spoken by Avril Incandenza or refer to Avril Incandenza. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Talent, Precociousness, and Fame Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“I'm ten for Pete's sake. I think maybe your appointment calendar's squares got juggled. I'm the potentially gifted ten-year-old tennis and lexical prodigy whose mom's a continental mover and shaker in the prescriptive grammar academic world and whose dad's a towering figure in optical and avant-garde film circles and single-handedly founded the Enfield Tennis Academy but drinks Wild Turkey at like 5:00 a.m. and pitches over sideways during dawn drills, on the courts, some days, and some days presents with delusions about people's mouths moving but nothing coming out. I'm not even up to J yet, in the condensed O.E.D., much less Québec or malevolent Lurias.

Related Characters: Hal Incandenza (speaker), Dr. James Incandenza / Jim, Avril Incandenza, Luria P——
Related Symbols: Substances
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
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Avril Incandenza Quotes in Infinite Jest

The Infinite Jest quotes below are all either spoken by Avril Incandenza or refer to Avril Incandenza. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Talent, Precociousness, and Fame Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“I'm ten for Pete's sake. I think maybe your appointment calendar's squares got juggled. I'm the potentially gifted ten-year-old tennis and lexical prodigy whose mom's a continental mover and shaker in the prescriptive grammar academic world and whose dad's a towering figure in optical and avant-garde film circles and single-handedly founded the Enfield Tennis Academy but drinks Wild Turkey at like 5:00 a.m. and pitches over sideways during dawn drills, on the courts, some days, and some days presents with delusions about people's mouths moving but nothing coming out. I'm not even up to J yet, in the condensed O.E.D., much less Québec or malevolent Lurias.

Related Characters: Hal Incandenza (speaker), Dr. James Incandenza / Jim, Avril Incandenza, Luria P——
Related Symbols: Substances
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis: