Ascended Reflected Quote by David Foster Wallace
““It ascended by levels: Da's cameo recessed against the glow of the tuner's parade,the drawer of utensils withdrawn past its fulcrum, the disembodied face of my brother miming and distorting my desperate attempt by expression alone to make Mum look up from me and see him, I no longer feeling my features' movements so much as seeing them on that writhing white face against the pantry's black, the throttle-popped eyes and cheeks ballooning against the gag's restraint, Mum squatting chairside to even my ears, my face before us bother farther and farther from my own control as I saw in his twin face what all lolly-smeared hand-held brats must see in the fun-house mirror- the gross and pitiless sameness, the distortion in which there is, tiny, at the center, something cruelly true about the we who leer and woggle at stick necks and and concave skulls, goggling eyes that swell to the edges- as the mimicry ascended reflected levels to become finally the burlesque of a wet hysteria that plastered cut strands to a wet white brow, the strangled man's sobs blocked by cloth, storm's thrum and electric hiss and Da's mutter against the lalation of shears meant for lambs, an unseen fit that sent my eyes upward again and again into their own shocked white, knowing past sight that my twin's face would show the same, to mock it- until the last refuge was slackness, giving up the ghost completely for a blank sack gagged mask's mindless stare-un seen and seeing- into a mirror I could not know or feel myself without. No not ever again.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, 1996
The passage describes a chaotic, fragmented perception of self and other, showing how identity dissolves into mirrored distortion under intense emotional strain.
In simple terms: Identity blurs under stress and reflection.
Recognize when self-perception is distorted.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- therapy sessions
- creative writing
- family gatherings
- performance art
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How does extreme emotional pressure alter self‑image?
- In what ways can art capture fragmented consciousness?
The intense, poetic style may obscure clarity for readers unfamiliar with Wallace’s prose.