Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Literary Elements

Fictional Interview; Short Story

Late 90's or early 2000's, mostly after the breakup of the unnamed narrator.

Primarily an unnamed woman, perhaps late 20's or early 30's. The point of view is hers, although her own voice is completely omitted from the work. There is only the letter Q when she speaks.

Cynical, self-defeating, frustrating. Ironic and critical.

Protagonist is narrator woman. Antagonists are the hideous men called upon for their defenses.

The major conflict for the title stories is that the relationship between the woman narrator and her interview subjects is dysfunctional and abusive, but mostly in ways that are difficult to articulate or detect.

The climax of the collection is the author's own sincere account for himself. Wallace's short story "Forever Overhead" can be viewed as his own interview, viewing himself as a hideous man. In Greek terms, the climax is an apology.

Many of the interviews are extremely dark in nature. The woman interviews rapists and fetish-obsessives, none of whom are motivated to alter their behavior. Many times this raises an uneasy feeling between the woman and the men, leading the reader to question the woman's safety.

Many instances; including B.I. #14 who talks about his issue with yelling during sex, until the reader learns that what he says is ridiculous and hysterical. Other instances include the passage defending rape in another interview where the unnamed man says, "I'm not saying it's a good thing. It's a bad thing."

There are many indirect and direct allusions to the Bible, leading the work to read with a religious overtone. Wallace has often said in interviews that interpersonal and psychological issues are often religious in nature. There are also art references to grunge culture and references to common imagery that make the pieces somewhat pop-art-esque.

Descriptions of wet dreams, a pool in the summer, churches, marijuana usage, vivid, often crass sexual imagery, extensive weather imagery and seasonal imagery.

The primary paradox is that the hideous men are sometimes polite and often articulate, thoughtful men. There are other paradoxes that emerge depending on which academic interpretation of the work one favors, for instance, the inclusion of "Forever Overhead" as the center-piece of a work about hideous men is paradoxical if it is viewed as one in nature with the interviews.

Each interview is different in kind, with some being more official than others, and sometimes it even seems as though the interview is actually a one-night stand—but every interview does the same parallel thing. They all ironically defend and expose the men.

Metonymy is used in the title of the collection, because the 'interviews' are often not interviews, per say, but rather just normal, perhaps even romantic interactions. Synecdoche appears beautifully in the story "Forever Overhead," when the story mentions 'your' wet dream as a synecdochic metaphor for the entire coming of age process, tying it in again at the end with the overtly sexual imagery used to describe diving into the pool.

The dreams of the boy in 'Forever Overhead' are personified, as if the dreams themselves were the romantic partner of the boys nocturnal episodes.