"Incarnations of Burned Children" by David Foster Wallace

      This story immediately begins with the arresting action of a father and mother attempting to rescue their young toddler from severe burns, but they are unsuccessful in doing so. In the end, they are out of time and their child dies. Earlier in the story, the focus weighed heavily on the dad, but towards the end, I felt as though the story's focus shifted to the toddler. In a different light, the ending's shift in focus could possibly be to comfort the parents and confirm that their child was no longer in pain? Then the primary focus of the story would be the mother and father, but it's just a thought! Each character was beautifully developed and authentically believable for me. I could see each action happening the exact way it is told, from the father running inside after hearing screams to the mother cursing and yelling out God's "first name." Though we are not provided with much background information and are not directly shown how the parents react in the ending, it is easy to assume that each character is forever changed. Whether it is for the good or the bad I am uncertain, but I do know that some change has been forced upon the characters physically, mentally, and emotionally.
       Some of the most enjoyable and brilliant components of the story for me were the narrator's emotionless tone yet ability to create emotion within the reader, and how Wallace took a completely depressing story and still provided a satisfying closure through the ending. Though the end is somewhat abrupt, readers are assured that the child has lived life "untenanted" and "whatever was lost never thenceforth mattered." The whole story is told in past tense and I guess I never actually realized it until the narrator simply summarizes the rest of the toddlers existence by looking back, which I thought was a great touch by Wallace. The only minute detail I was confused about was the title and how it's plural, "IncantationS of Burned ChildREN."  Yet there was only one story described; however, the more I thought about it, the more I assumed that this particular story was just one of many the narrator was telling or had told which would make the title accurate.
      Other elements of this story that captured my attention and that I felt worked significantly well were the title and instant climactic action. Wallace beautifully tells this tragic story through a third person narrator, whom, after finishing, I assumed was an angel-like spiritual being, or either the deceased toddler looking back and accounting the facts from a higher standpoint. Without much detail, the narrator still shows us that it is omniscient with insights into the parents' thoughts and lines such as, "and his man's mind empty of everything but purpose." I have also gathered that the narrator is quite young as it refers to the parents as "the Daddy" or "the Mommy," as well as saying things like, "the Mommy said their God's first name," enhancing the tone even more. This child-like tone contained through the entire story, is evident also in the structure. One long paragraph serves as the whole story, possessing limited punctuation with numerous extended sentences linked together over and over by "and's."
       Though Wallace does not provide many descriptions of the characters, settings, or emotions, I am still able to maintain a strong emotional connection and sympathy for the Dad and Mom, as well as the toddler. This could solely be possible because of the lack of details given, and how it is simply told through straight facts and actions that the characters take. Thus, the tone can become creepily ominous, but in a really intriguing and significant way. There is also a feel of urgency and panic as the story unfolds, espcially through the long sentences and paragraph. The traumatic event is depressing in itself, but I found it even more intense since I had to incorporate my own emotions in place of the characters. Wallace incorporates this productive strategy very well through the narration by not blatanly telling me how they feel, but simply showing me. Despite the eerie feel of the narrator, I found the consistent tone extremely effective and moving. I also thoroughly enjoyed that Wallace omitted any dialogue and personally I think if any were added, it would take away from the story and the creepy yet innocently beautiful tone would be lost. This is easily one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, story assigned to us this semester. For some odd reason it must take a  depressing story to hit home and draw out my emotion which allows me to connect with the story like this one. I would love to read more stories like this one!