[[WMG: The mold Hal ate as a child was the same mold DMZ is synthesized from]]
The mold Hal ate was described as sickly green speckled with points of yellow, orange, and red. Now, DMZ is synthesized from a rare mold that is said to only grow on other molds...

[[WMG: The Incandenza Brothers were modeled after the Brothers Karamazov.]]
Hal, the tormented, witty rationalist, reminds me a lot of Ivan; the sweet-tempered, forgiving Mario, whose actions are occasionally Messianic, call Alyosha to mind; and Orin, who fucks pretty much everything that can be fucked, is sort of a modern-day Dmitri. On top of that, Hal and Mario's conversations about cynicism and idealism are, in a way, reminiscent of Ivan and Alyosha's debates about religion. Given that Foster Wallace was a huge Dostoevsky fan and explicitly mentions Karamazov towards the end, I'm pretty sure this was intentional.