Date of Award
Spring 5-2015
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
English
Department
English
Major Professor
Dan Doll
Second Advisor
John Hazlett
Third Advisor
Leslie White
Abstract
Often aligned with post-postmodernism, David Foster Wallace’s later work retreats from the ironic detachment and cynicism of postmodernism in favor of a more sincere approach to writing. This is especially evident in his posthumous novel, The Pale King, a work dealing with what it means to be human in the Information Age. After locating the novel’s setting within a recent history of American masculinity and work, this paper examines several of the novel’s male characters as they struggle to be fully realized boys and men, concluding that The Pale King is Wallace’s final statement that enduring the ennui of modern life is admirable, even heroic.
Recommended Citation
Guidry, David J., "“Cowboy, Paladin, Hero?”: Being Boys and Men in David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King" (2015). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1975.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1975
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.