Jeremiah Samson

67716688

Writing 39 B

Justine Yan

Oceans Irony

RA Final Draft

Shipping Out, by David Foster Wallace, is about Wallaces experience on his unwanted,

attractive cruise. According to Seattlepi (internet website), Real irony -- which can come in

many forms -- involves an incongruity between what appears to be or should be and what

actually is, which Wallace aimlessly does in Shipping Out. This not only depicts his techniques

in literature, but it reveals his inner person, his voice as an author. Wallace also incorporates his

thoughts in a way that challenges the popular opinion of cruises and presents an alternative

perspective to the audience. To formulate his irony effect and purpose, Wallace uses several

devices, such as theme of writing and diction that tie into his persona, which then creates a shift

in perspectives about traveling.

Wallaces purpose is to create a shift of perspectives, by this I mean he has the audience

to get informed from a view that hates cruise from what we see and hear about the greatness of

cruises. Throughout his story, you may think that he is loving his trip but in truth he hates it.

Wallace shifts from, I have now seen sucrose beaches and water a very bright blue. I have seen

an all-red leisure suit with flared lapels (Wallace 33), to I, who had never before this cruise

actually been on the ocean, have for some reason always associated the ocean with dread and

death (Wallace 35). The audience is then left to freeze and rethink, because at the beginning of

the story you expect it to be just how lovely his experience on the cruise. However, Wallace
tricks you into that and when he states that he hates the ocean, the audience becomes more hook

and wants to know even more about his experience. This elaborates and contributes to his irony

that helps him convey his purpose towards the audience.

On the other note, Wallace does create this shift, but the audience cannot help but think if

Wallace is lying or not. According to Thompson, Travel experience is thus crafted into travel

text (Thompson 27), this means the writers often bends the truth. This provides Wallace to have

more leniency to create variety of options to be free, imaginative, and dependent to himself.

Often, readers of travel writing are prepared for the lies and exaggerating because it is the writers

point of view. In Shipping Out, Wallace states, I have seen and smelled all 145 cats inside the

Ernest Hemingway residence (Wallace 33), the audience will think did he really smell all

those cats or he is just exaggerating. This adds to his irony as well, because it provides a second

incentive for his purpose. It produces a response from the audience to be shocked or confused

about his experience. The audience are given some moments where they ask themselves, does he

really hate it or love it in the weirdest way? For example, Wallace quotes Cabin 1009's

bathroom deserves extravagant praise. I've seen more than my share of bathrooms, and this is

one bitchingly nice bath-room (Wallace 47). As the audience, we just have to accept take the

writers words for it. Wallace also writes in a specific theme that goes hand and hand with the

devices he used.

The type of writing Wallace portrays, according to Thompson, is picaresque (Thompson

17). Picaresque depicts the writers adventures going rogue. This provides Wallace to add more

to his irony because he goes rogue by abandoning his faith in the ocean being a death or decay

(Wallace 36) or a place where bad things occur and goes on this Luxury Cruise. Wallace

continues to attack his audience by having them respond to his unwanted cruise from being
tremendously being pampered, incredible room and bathroom. Thus, generating a type of wonder

bubble going on the audiences head because who does not like being pampered or incredible

room and bed to sleep in, or exquisite bathroom to shower in.

Wallace incorporates another device to make his story more compelling, which is diction.

Word choice is essential in writing because as an audience you would not want to read the same

word over and over again. It also generates a redundant tone to the story, that makes the audience

get tired of the text. Wallaces use of diction helps adds to the overall article, by this to the irony;

and also his persona. When trying to deliver a purpose or message, the right words needs to be

used. Wallace did not have trouble with that, he made it seem like he loved the cruise, due to all

the wonderful, good connotation words. In the article, he uses words, such as A harmonious

concordance of elegant form (Wallace 47). However, he uses words that have a good connotation

but turns it into a bad way, such as But there is also a creeping uneasiness about it that presents-

at least in my own case-as a kind of paranoia. Because after a couple days of this fabulous

invisible room cleaning (Wallace 46). This adds to the way he is trying to deliver his message

and purpose, because it gives him a variety of options to deliver it; in this article which is irony.

This then produces a response from the audience to be confused, it makes them think why use

this word or why this word but the tone doesnt match?

Using all these devices, Wallace develops his persona and his credibility. This

incorporates the he interprets his story towards the audience. One thing Wallace incorporates in

his text, in order to, develop his persona, is by showing us instead of telling us. According to

Thompson, writers often write in a showing mode than a telling mode, thus creating the text

in a more authentic fashion (Thompson 28). This helps the audience to imagine visual images in

their heads or even feel the same feeling the writer felt about what they are reading. For example,
Wallace writes, The HOT setting's water is exfoliatingly hot, but it takes only one preset

manipulation of the shower knob to get perfect 98.6-degree water (Wallace 47), the detail of

adding how fast the water gets to a specific setting shows what he experiences. Some writers can

just be like the hot settings is really hot, however, Wallace does an incredible job to help his

audience connect and understand his point of view. This helps his persona because it shows that

he pays attentions to the small details. According to William Stowe, landscape is not the object

seen or text read but a process in which personalities are developed (Stowe 27). By this, Stowe

means that landscaping is a way where one can explore more about themselves. Wallace states

he hates the ocean because it leads to death and scary events, however, he cannot really hate it

without experiencing on his own. One can get scared of things they see in this world because the

world is pretty cruel, but one will not truly know until one is facing that scary thing right in the

face. Therefore, I am convinced that Wallace took this Luxury Cruise to truly find out if he hates

the ocean, thus creating a credible and developing a more convincible persona.

Wallace uses many devices to have his audience wrapped in the hooks of Shipping Out,

and keep them from thinking and straying away from it. Incorporate the theme, details, word

choice all ties into his persona creating his purpose, which is irony to the audience. The process

of thinking these through and making them connect took time and so much editing. However, the

outcome of his story really describes travel writing because of all the conventions used. By

manipulating his story to what he sees the audience will connect to, he manipulates the audience

into loving Shipping out.

 Works Cited

Wallace, and David Foster. Shipping out: on the comforts of a luxury cruise. Harpers

Magazine, 1 Jan. 1996, pp. 3356.

What Impact Does the Irony Have Upon the Reader? What Impact Does the Irony Have Upon

the Reader? | Education - Seattle PI, education.seattlepi.com/impact-irony-upon-reader-

7000.html.

Meyer, Steven, editor. The Cambridge Companion to Literature and Science. Cambridge,

Cambridge University Press, 2018. pp. 26-27.

Thompson, Carl. Travel Writing. Routledge, 2011. pp. 9-30.