Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest

by

David Foster Wallace

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A.F.R. Term Analysis

Assassins Fateuils Rolents (“Wheelchair Assassins” in English). The most violent and feared anti-O.N.A.N. terrorist organization, comprised of Quebecois miners’ sons who lost their legs through playing a game called La Culte du Prochain Train (“The Cult of the Next Train”). Led by M. Fortier, prominent members include Guillaume DuPlessis and Rémy Marathe. The A.F.R. hope to obtain the master copy of the Entertainment and mass-distribute the film in the U.S. in order to destroy O.N.A.N. and allow Québec to secede.
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A.F.R. Term Timeline in Infinite Jest

The timeline below shows where the term A.F.R. appears in Infinite Jest. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 16
Talent, Precociousness, and Fame Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...Quebecois French. (An endnote explains that Fortier is the leader of the USA cell of A.F.R., which a further note explains stands for Les Assassins des Fauteils Rollents (Wheelchair Assassins), which... (full context)
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
Steeply wears women’s clothing and prosthetic breasts. Marathe was originally supposed to pretend to betray A.F.R. to Steeply in order to secure medical care for his sick wife, but in actual... (full context)
Entertainment Theme Icon
Reality as Corporate Dystopia Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
Steeply accuses A.F.R. of having something to do with the Entertainment, suggesting that the cell wanted to “make... (full context)
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...Office of Unspecified Services knows Marathe is acting as a “quadruple” agent, and asks if A.F.R. knows this too. Marathe mentions DuPlessis, who recently died during a burglary, “under circumstances of... (full context)
Chapter 41
Entertainment Theme Icon
Reality as Corporate Dystopia Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...American government knows the country’s entire population could be wiped out by the cartridge, which A.F.R. will not force on anyone but will simply “make… available.” He explains that someone already... (full context)
Chapter 46
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Entertainment Theme Icon
Reality as Corporate Dystopia Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
Again, Marathe asks how A.F.R. could be blamed for harming the U.S. simply by making the Entertainment available. If Americans... (full context)
Chapter 50
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...two figures in wheelchairs on the shop floor. When he realizes that it is the A.F.R., Lucien begins to “whimper.” At that moment, a snag in zipper causes the entirety of... (full context)
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
The leader of the A.F.R. takes Lucien’s gun from his hand, still speaking to him in French and ignoring the... (full context)
Talent, Precociousness, and Fame Theme Icon
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...Steeply asks if Marathe has ever considered watching The Entertainment. First Marathe confirms that the A.F.R. have a “read-only” copy of the cartridge, and then he adds that he’s never been... (full context)
Chapter 51
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...picture of reason and self-discipline, but now resembles a “drug-addicted newborn.” Marathe admits that the A.F.R. have lost people, too. Steeply asks again if Marathe ever fantasizes about what the Entertainment... (full context)
Chapter 53
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...very little is usually “accomplished” during these meetings between the men, both the O.U.S. and A.F.R. get excited about them. The two men then discuss the myth of the Odalisque, alluding... (full context)
Chapter 67
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Entertainment Theme Icon
...they go. Adrenaline builds until he runs up and snatches their purses with ease. The A.F.R., meanwhile, are considering two methods of locating James’s master copy of the Entertainment. They could... (full context)
Chapter 68
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...to get her fingers around Tony’s wig while Tony dashes into an alley. Meanwhile, the A.F.R.’s leader Fortier has overseen a thorough search of the Antitois’ shop that has taken place... (full context)
Chapter 69
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Entertainment Theme Icon
The A.F.R. now have the entire Incandenza family under surveillance, and are close to tracking down Joelle,... (full context)
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...his limbs. (An endnote here describes E.T.A. student James Struck Jr. conducting research on the A.F.R. for his History of Canadian Unpleasantness course. He reads about the A.F.R.’s various activities, which... (full context)
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...the tracks have their legs severed off; several of these boys go on to found A.F.R. In the whole history of the game, only one person has not jumped: John Wayne’s... (full context)
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...of the only houses in the region that is accessible to people with disabilities. Through A.F.R.-overseen research, Marathe has concluded that American drug and alcohol recovery is a “paramilitary” affair. He... (full context)
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Entertainment Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...the illusion of his fake identity, or if he should leave immediately and inform the A.F.R. that the master copy of the Entertainment is likely in this very house. Or, perhaps,... (full context)
Chapter 72
Talent, Precociousness, and Fame Theme Icon
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Reality as Corporate Dystopia Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
19 November Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. Marathe and the other A.F.R. members cannot track down Joelle. They decide it won’t be possible to commit a “direct... (full context)
Chapter 74
Addiction, Mental Illness, and Suicide Theme Icon
Institutional Control vs. Rebellion Theme Icon
...put her in quarantine with Clenette and Yolanda in order to protect herself from the A.F.R. A man named Mikey speaks to an AA meeting, telling a story about when he... (full context)