Infinite Jest

Year of Glad

Hal Incandenza narrates his experience of sitting in the University of Arizona admissions office with his Uncle Charles. He is meeting with the Deans of Admissions, Academic Affairs, and Athletic Affairs, as well as the Director of Composition, the varsity tennis coach, and Aubrey deLint, a prorector at the Enfield Tennis Academy (E.T.A.), the sports-oriented boarding school that Hal attends. The university is tentatively offering Hal a generous tennis scholarship because he is an exciting prospect with “substantial promise” (4).

However, Hal is nervous. His worried grimace confuses the Deans. They explain that his test scores are terrible but his personal essays are very good, hinting at a wisdom far beyond his age. Given that Hal’s mother and his Uncle Charles both work at E.T.A., the University board is giving him a chance to explain the discrepancy between his terrible test scores and his “stellar” (7) essays. They want to be sure that his family has not helped him, so as to avoid any accusations of nepotism. Hal is almost paralyzed with nervousness. He sits silently while Charles speaks on his behalf. Eventually, the Deans ask Charles to leave. They want to let Hal speak for himself.