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Correspondingly, repetition plays a large role within Wallace’s speech. For example, Wallace writes “Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor…” By stating this Wallace is conveying the message that the only thing people know or think about is themselves. Individuals are not pushing the envelope to see what more can be known, but stay in their own bubble doing the same thing day in and day out. Similarly, Wallace states, “…because my natural default setting 

is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me. About MY fatigue and MY desire to just get home/everybody else is just in MY way.” No matter how hard people try to be compassionate and engaging towards others we as humans will always return to who we know best…ourselves. Wallace is trying to make it clear that no matter the circumstance humans become stuck, but never try to get free. In addition, Wallace mentions “…thinking this way tends to be so easy and automatic that it doesn’t have to be a choice/it’s the automatic way that I experience the boring, frustrating, crowded parts of adult life when I’m operating on the automatic, unconscious belief that I am the center of the world...,” meaning that, although, humans try to branch out, they will inevitably return to their automatic way of life.

In addition, irony, like repetition, propels the speech adding uncanny parallels and relatable examples that tie together the uncertainty of the human mind. To emphasize, Wallace mentions “…Because a huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded…” By stating this, Wallace is not only pointing out that what he believes he knows is wrong but also that, although, he was sure it was right he was able to accept the fact that he was wrong and learn from that. Being able to expand your mindset and learn from others is the main focus of the entire speech. Similarly, Wallace states “…adults who commit suicide with firearms shoot themselves in the head. They shoot the terrible master. And the truth is that most of these suicides are actually dead long before they pull the trigger.” This explains the reasoning behind the longing and need to escape the automatic way of life. If you are able to escape the hole that is automatic, there will never be a “terrible master” to destroy.

Although some may disagree with these interpretations, it is undeniable that David Foster Wallace wanted to distinguish between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. Being able to break the mold between mental suppression and mental expression helps build people and 

make them who they are. Wallace wanted to bring to attention the importance of students being able to absorb new information, to figure things out and to become something more than what they are. David Foster Wallace flawlessly accomplishes the comparison between an automatic world believing we know everything to a world where expression and absorption helps us connect to one another becoming more than what we believe.
