Infinite Jest: Chapter 49 Summary & Analysis

9 November Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. There are currently 12 available spots at E.T.A., which Charles wants to fill only with male applicants because the current 64:72 male-to-female ratio needs correcting. At the moment, some girls are having to be housed in the boys’ dorms. Charles is deeply stressed by the many administrative conundrums currently affecting the academy. In passing it is then hinted that Charles is actually Mario’s father. At E.T.A., training times are split by gender and staggered, and the best players get up the earliest to begin their day. In between drills, students swig and spit Gatorade from little paper cups to combat “cottony mouth.” Today it is chilly but not too cold once the sun comes out.

A bucket is put out in case anyone throws up during the final conditioning drills (which, an endnote explains, are nicknamed “Pukers”). At 15, Hal injured his ankle while moving in a similar way to the Side-to-Side drill, so he gets to take this drill easy to avoid hurting himself again. Schtitt yells that he is seeing “sluggish drilling, by sluggards.” He accuses LaMont Chu of decreasing the effort he puts into training ever since he developed this obsession with tennis fame. When Hal suggests that they need to “adjust” to the cold conditions, Schtitt replies that they should instead focus on a world inside the world where there are no conditions.

Schtitt adds that if it is difficult for them to adjust between the warmth and cold of inside and outside, then they could simply do everything—sleep, eat, study—outside. At his own gymnasium in Germany, he says, he was forced to live inside the tennis courts for months in order to “learn to live inside.” He also points out that if the boys want to be somewhere else, they can always leave. When they are there, they must be fully present.

Ennet House’s other residential staffer is called Johnette Foltz, but it is rumored she might be leaving soon. Everyone at Ennet House hopes she will be replaced by the attractive Danielle Steenbok, who is “rumored also to attend Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous.” Back when he was drinking, Gately’s driver’s license was revoked after he was given a DUI. Gately originally came to Ennet House to avoid going to jail, where he knew that drugs and alcohol would be easier to find than they were in the outside world.

Pat, who is “both pretty and not,” was divorced by her first husband because of her alcoholism. She had several stints in rehab before a stroke led her to give up drinking for good. When she first arrived at Ennet House, aged 32, she was almost completely paralyzed and used a wheelchair, yet still signaled that she was willing to eat a rock to prove her commitment to sobriety. Her right hand, on which she wears a brace, remains in a permanent claw position. Gately had been one of her favorite residents when he arrived.

Boston AA members compare the meetings to a cake mix: it doesn’t matter if you understand how it works, all you have to do is relax and follow the instructions and you’ll get a cake. Gately is Ennet House’s resident chef, which is odd because he isn’t a very good cook. However,  no one dares complain (at least not outright). Some even feign pleasure at the disgusting food he makes.