DFW references this argument in his fiction, so I'll try to do it justice: I respectfully disagree. Depression does not stem from "I don't what happiness is". A

DFW references this argument in his fiction, so I'll try to do it justice: I respectfully disagree. Depression does not stem from "I don't what happiness is". A depressed person is aware of happiness, of the fact that he or she right now should be happy because everybody else at the dinner table is laughing and having a great time, of the fact that he or she knows how to pretend happy and a great time while at the same time hating the pretension. Being depressed is constantly looking onto happiness but being denied access; being depressed is being depressed about the fact that you don't have access, which in turn makes you more depressed. I don't think the way DFW meant to end that sentence is "but he really isn't". That paragraph, that entire piece really, is about the audience's predatory relationship with athletes. That last paragraph is addressed at people who watch, not people who participate. Michael Joyce is happy; we should just be wary of the kind of happiness.