Focus passage

Pages 157-169 (Tucson, 1960: James O. Incandenza's father's one-sided discourse, directed at J.O.I.)

Elements of the passage I find especially compelling/worth discussion include:

- The recurrent theme of alcoholism. What might J.O.I.'s father's habit say about J.O.I. (Hal's father), and consequently Hal? Where does this fit in with the rest of the novel?

- The numerous characterizations of black widows (I've noted that insects appear to be a motif throughout the book so far); e.g., in this passage the father tells his son to kill the widows in the garage and compares spiders to "a machine a body an object," just like the car engine and his son (159); the father also tells J.O.I. about widows in the fronds of trees that sometimes fell below, which is the reason his (J.O.I.'s) grandfather refused to sit under trees (164-5); finally, he blames his trip on the tennis court on a fallen widow which he purportedly slipped on (167).

- He tells his son "Today, Lesson One out there, you become, for better or worse, Jim, a man. [...] A machine in the ghost, to quote a phrase." The father's error is reminiscent of Wallace's purposeful rearrangement of "E Pluribus Unam" to "E Unibus Pluram" in the essay we read. Does this mistake reflect a similar sentiment as the essay title, or a different one? What might it say about the father?

- The train of thought describing what some call being "in the zone" (a "trance" according to the father), particularly on the tennis court (166). What relevance does this state of mind have and what might we be able to compare it to? What other parts of the book reflect a similar consciousness in other characters?