I first read this when it came out, and I've since harbored a theory about Hal that may or may not work.
What happens to Hal is a combination of two "molds." We have the "organic" mold that he ate as a child, that gave Avril the howling fantods and which, we presume, is still somewhere in his system. The other semantic way to look at this is there is a "mold" that represents his family's expectations: trying to impress his moms with his vocabulary, his father with his ability, trying to fit a "mold" that his family has prescribed for him.
Then, the extremely potent DMZ: a "synthetic" mold. The expectations of "the show," of life at Enfield Tennis Academy, of a life he hasn't chosen but which is rushing up to meet him despite his intentions. It doesn't matter who dosed Hal, although I suspect John N.R. Wayne, presuming he is a mole for the AFR and wants Hal as docile as possible for the inevitable technical interview, dosed his toothbrush.
But it's a combination of the two molds: organic and synthetic, familial and environmental, that collide in Hal and render him incoherent. The "molds" he's trying to conform to completely destroy the self inside, and that's what we experience in the first ten pages: the raging self, aching to be heard and understood, completely destroyed by the molds he has ingested, literally and figuratively.
|