




“This is Water”, by David Foster Wallace has a heavy concentration of repetitive language. This is not because he is a bad writer/speaker, but because he is stressing the importance of a certain word in one or many meanings. Two of the biggest examples of this repetition are the use of the words death and worship. These two words both connect in a way to prove the authors point, but also have a weight on the larger message of the story individually. By looking at the repetition of the words death and worship, we can see that a liberal arts education is most-definitely important. This is important because the author believes that with a liberal arts education, the individual will learn to think and therefore be more content with life. 

Wallace’s use of the word death throughout his speech is a great example of the literary device, repetition. Repetition is a device that an author uses to emphasize a point by repeating a word or phrase multiple times. However, the reason this word is repeated is twofold. The first reason is to stress the importance of a liberal arts education, and the second is too describe life without a liberal arts education. Even though the word death normally has a morbid connotation, in this speech its main purpose is as discussed in the preceding sentence. In contrast to the word worship, the use of the word death is not repeated multiple times in a paragraph, however, it shows up constantly throughout the speech, indicating the importance of the word and its connection to the theme. 

The first use of death in “This is Water” is to emphasize importance. Wallace says, “Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude, but the fact is that, in the day-to-day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have life-or-death importance or so I wish to suggest to you on this dry and lovely morning” (Wallace x-xi). The concept Wallace is hinting at here is the importance of the little things. He’s getting at the fact that the simplest and plainest things are the most important. However, because they are plain and simple they are overlooked and ignored for their importance. This is, as you will hear very often, Wallace’s description of the human default setting. His best description of this includes the fish not understanding or realizing that they live in the water. The fact is so obvious that they remain completely oblivious. To the author, understanding the default setting and having the ability to live a life absent of this default setting, is a matter of life and death. When he says a matter of life in death he does not mean to actually die but rather a life that resembles death.  Death here connects to the theme because it directly correlates to the importance of a liberal arts education that can help one live apart from the default setting, so many fall into. 

In the conclusion of the speech Wallace uses the word death twice in a critical way. He says, “None of this stuff is really about morality or religion or dogma or big fancy questions of life after death. The Capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death” (xvii). What Wallace is describing in these two sentences is the importance and value of life. Not only the importance of life but, the importance of life with a real education. He does not say it is important to be knowledgeable, but rather the importance lies in having a strong sense of awareness. He says it is vitally important be aware of what surrounds you, be aware of what the “water” is. Without this ability and skill set that a liberal arts education offers, life will be very bland and not exactly worth living, as Wallace puts it. 

The literary element of repetition is used very heavily at the end of Wallace’s speech as well. The word worship is used over ten times in the last three paragraphs to emphasis the importance of the word. Wallace describes worship as inevitable, that there is no such thing as atheism and that everybody worships. However, worship does not have to be religious. One can worship money and material things or one could worship power. Consequently, the worship of such things carry repercussions. For example, he says “If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you” (xvi). This quote just explains the simple human nature of never being satisfied when pursuing worldly things. It is very difficult to find happiness when someone is trying to fill one of the voids that comes with the worship of examples like these. 

When Wallace says that there is no such thing as atheism, it is difficult to disagree, since everyone holds something to a higher standard. That thing that people value more than everything else is actually what they are worshiping. Even though worship seems to be a strong word, something as simple as holding one’s beauty above other things is a way of worship.  Wallace describes this form of worship as the human default setting. He calls it unconscious, meaning that it is natural to slip into this type of worship without even realizing it. This ties into the theme because Wallace’s main point includes being aware of one’s surroundings. When one is unconsciously slipping into this state of worship, he/she is not aware of his surroundings. Wallace uses the repetition of this word to show the importance of staying clear of the way of life this false worship brings. For example, the way of life found in this type of worship can lead to endless dissatisfaction and unhappiness by putting so much time and effort into a material substances or virtues that cannot repay in ways that are expected. In other words, if one worships their body and beauty, they will not always feel beautiful, but in contrast, they will always feel ugly and dissatisfied with their physical appearance. 

Wallace sees this as a major problem for people who do not have a liberal arts education because they do not know any better. The present day culture does not condemn or discourage this type of worship. Furthermore, this present day culture virtually, does not even acknowledge this worship. According to Wallace, a liberal arts education will equip these students with an awareness of the world around them and the ability to use their minds. With these two skills, a student has the ability to decide what to worship and how to worship. 

As one can see by the examples revealed in this essay, repetition is a very useful and important element to relay and inforce the theme of Wallace’s speech. Rather than just bluntly saying that a liberal arts education is important, Wallace’s repetition of a harsh word like death is much more effective in persuasive writing. Similarly, the repetitive use of the word worship explains how important the concept of unawareness is to the theme. In conclusion, the literary device of repetition was an effective and persuasive element in order to support the thesis of Wallace’s speech.  


