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Ortho Stice
The medical attaché works for the personal physician of Prince Q——, the Saudi Minister for Home Entertainment. He lives in Boston with his wife. A Sufi Muslim, the attaché does not drink or take drugs but has a compulsive relationship to watching film cartridges at the end of the day. It is hinted that he had an affair with Avril. He is mailed an unmarked copy of the Entertainment (possibly by Orin) and, not knowing what it is, falls victim to it (and assumedly dies as a result).
Medical Attaché Quotes in Infinite Jest
The Infinite Jest quotes below are all either spoken by Medical Attaché or refer to Medical Attaché. 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:
).
Chapter 5 Quotes
A more than averagely devout follower of the North American sufism promulgated in his childhood by Pir Valayat, the medical attaché partakes of neither kif nor distilled spirits, and must unwind without chemical aid… The medical attaché sits and watches and eats and watches, unwinding by visible degrees, until the angles of his body in the chair and his head on his neck indicate that he has passed into sleep, at which point his special electronic recliner can be made automatically to recline to full horizontal, and luxuriant silk-analog bedding emerges flowingly from long slots in the appliance's sides.
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A medical attaché who is the ear-nose-and-throat specialist to Prince Q——, Saudi Minister of Home Entertainment, is staying in Boston with his wife. This quotation explains how the attaché chooses to relax at the end of the day. As a Muslim, he does not drink or consume any other drugs, which makes him one of the few characters in the novel who does not take “Substances” of one kind or another. At the same time, the method the attaché uses to “unwind” is shown to be somewhat comparable to taking drugs in that it gradually puts him in a kind Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti sol
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"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Medical Attaché Character Timeline in Infinite Jest
The timeline below shows where the character Medical Attaché appears in Infinite Jest. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. A Saudi medical attaché (who is ethnically only half-Arab and was born in Canada) is in the northeast U.S....
(full context)
On Wednesday nights, the attaché’s wife plays in an Arab Women’s tennis league at the Mount Auburn Club in Watertown....
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Searching through the new cartridges, the attaché finds a medical film and a women’s magazine for his wife. He also finds a...
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Chapter 7
...a “workaholic.” Mario begins to cry. The chapter ends with a note that the medical attaché is still watching the unmarked entertainment cartridge.
(full context)
Chapter 9
Just after midnight on April 2, the medical attaché’s wife leaves her tennis evening while the medical attaché sits at home still watching the...
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Chapter 14
In a brief passage, the medical attaché’s wife arrives home to find the medical attaché watching the entertainment cartridge in a “soiled”...
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Chapter 15
...afternoon of April 2, Y.D.A.U., Prince Q——’s personal physician’s personal assistant goes to the medical attaché’s house to check why he hasn’t shown up for work. When the assistant doesn’t come...
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Chapter 16
...he calls “the Entertainment.” He notes that the cartridge was received by a Saudi medical attaché in Boston, and that the package was sent from the Southwest.
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...with the Entertainment, suggesting that the cell wanted to “make an example” out of the attaché. He adds that the attaché may have had a connection to the Québécoise wife of...
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Chapter 55
...of the audience of an avant-garde film festival in Arizona, not to mention the medical attaché and associated “incidentals” in Boston.
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