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Wallace:David:Infinite Jest:Character:John Wayne

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

wallace-l 1 July 1996: I have a few ideas about John N.R. Wayne...

  1. Struck's term paper, which traces the roots of the A.F.R. to "The Cult of the Next Train," mentions (pg. 1060) that only one cultist, a Bernard Wayne, ever humiliated himself by not jumping. Wallace then adds, "Disastrously, Struck blindly transposes this...with not even a miniature appliance-size bulb flickering anywhere over his head." Was this John's father?

  2. After the A.F.R. has found a read-only copy of IJ in the Antitois' shop, we read (pg. 726), "An employee at the Academy of Tennis of Enfield had been recruited and joined the Canadian instructor and student already inside for the closer work of surveillance." I assume the instructor is Thierry Poutrincourt. Wayne seems to be the logical choice for the student. Later, when Hal is lying on his back in the viewing room, Wayne comes to the door, perhaps to tell Hal something, but walks away. Maybe Wayne starts out as an A.F.R. spy, and then changes his allegiance to team up with Hal and Gately. This could explain why he is standing guard in a mask while JOI's head is being retrieved. He doesn't want his compatriots to see his face.