History Literature / ThePaleKing

When Creator/DavidFosterWallace [[DiedDuringProduction died in 2008]], he left behind an unfinished manuscript for his latest novel, along with hundreds of other pages of notes and ideas. Through the combined efforts of his wife, agent, and editor, his final work was released in 2011 as ''The Pale King''. It is a jumbled narrative that combines a memoir with the various stories of a group of [[IntimidatingRevenueService IRS]] employees stationed in Peoria, Illinois in 1985. Despite being incomplete and [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible sometimes incomprehensible]], the novel's themes of depression, loneliness, self-awareness, and the tedium of daily life are expressed with a depth and poignancy that only Wallace could muster.

* BedlamHouse: Where Meredith spends her 18th birthday after getting caught [[SelfHarm cutting.]]

** David Cusk slowly becomes more confident and [[spoiler: eventually sees a psychiatrist about his phobias.]]

** Lane Dean's religious convictions weaken over time, to the point of [[spoiler: considering suicide.]]

* CompanionCube: The Doberman Hand Puppet, which is eventually revealed to belong to [[spoiler: [[HearingVoices Dr. Lehrl.]]]]

* DistractedByTheSexy: Every male in the vicinity of Meredith Rand, with the sole exception of [[NotDistractedByTheSexy Shane Drinion.]]

* EyeScream: Revenue Agent Fechner lost an eye in a war. He has a GlassEye, but he apparently likes to [[NightmareFuel use his empty eye socket as a bottle opener.]]

* {{Hallucinations}}: Some IRS examiners who strain themselves to remain focused and alert in the face of extreme boredom are visited by phantoms that embody [[{{Flanderization}} extreme stereotypes]] of the [[YouAreWhatYouHate repressed aspects]] [[ShadowArchetype of their personalities.]] Macho guys see [[DragQueen drag queens]], [[NeatFreak neat freaks]] see filthy people, etc.

** The horrendously complex and ultimately bungled [[spoiler: wrongful death lawsuit after Chris Fogle's father dies.]]
** After [[spoiler: his experience in Advanced Tax class, Chris tries to make up for his mistakes by going to the dean and begging for a chance to salvage his college career. The dean laughs in his face.]]

** [[spoiler: Sylvanshine]] is possibly going insane when he hears [[spoiler: Manshardt's baby speak.]] It could have actually happened though.

* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Averted. [[spoiler: Toni]] and her mother simply avoid them by drifting around the country. This lasts until [[spoiler: the mother is killed by her boyfriend.]]

* UncannyValley: There is something very, very off about Shane Drinion. His [[SpockSpeak odd speech patterns]], [[TheStoic lack of emotions, facial reactions]], or [[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm sense of humor]] make him seem inhuman. There's also the fact that [[spoiler: he can levitate if he concentrates hard enough on something, he keeps a perfect record of his conversations, and that he can't leave the room without Keith Sabusawa. None of it is explained.]]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Two IRS employees are in the middle of a lengthy commute, and one decides to break up the monotony by awkwardly asking about what the other guy thinks about when he masturbates. The other guy is understandably incredulous.

* CoitusEnsues: There's a reason why she's called the Iranian Crisis.

* SuperOCD: David Cusk. Thanks to his fear of being noticed for his sweating, he eventually develops the ability to keep track of a room's temperature, the locations and distances of the exits, sight lines and proximity of every person in the room, and quickly strategize ways to avoid detection.