So, my friend from out of town and I were discussing Infinite Jest. Believe it or not, he's read it before (for FUN!) and is going through it a second time. Anyway, it was a really interesting conversation and I asked him what he thought about Marathe, since I remember we were talking about him in class the other day. My friend thinks that Marathe is not a double or a triple agent, but a QUADRUPLE agent. Ultimately, he is loyal to the Americans because his wife is sick from all the toxic poisoning and the Americans are the only ones who are willing to help her.
Any thoughts?
Wow, my thought is that Marathe is incredibly confusing. (I think it is partially because he switches around from English to French, which I do not understand.) This seems like it might be likely, since the thing he cares about most seems to be his wife. It seems like he is willing to do anything to help her.
A little textual evidence for you.
Page 753:
"Fortier's wrath would be implacable at Marathe's 'perdant-son-coeur' and it may be far wiser of waiting until Quebec had beeen evicted and the A.F.R. were fully engaged to reveal his quadrupling for O.N.A.N., Marathe."
I don't even understand the logistics of being a quadruple agent...like, aren't you essentially just a double agent? Pretending to be loyal to the Canadians but really being loyal to the Americans? Can someone spell this out for me?
I wondered the same thing. Pretty much, when my friend explained it to me, I just gave him a really confused/borderline disgusted look. I think being a quadruple agent has to do with "only pretending only to pretend" (footnote 42 on page 995) but I can't explain it beyond that without making my brain hurt.
I think that Marathe shouldn't be looked at in a logistic/literal manner. He's a far more interesting character when you realize that we don't know his motives and start trying to think about why we always feel that we need to know and be able to clearly reason why people make the choices they do. Marathe is more interesting for what he brings out in us instead of how he could possibly be the stud of the spy trade, playing four sides off one another.