
Authors use a variety of literary devices to make their argument. In David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water,” there are number of literary techniques used to move the point across to the audience. Being a commencement speech, Wallace is congratulating his audience for graduating college, but also giving them advice for the real adult world. Wallace uses the literary devices of repetition and metaphor to show us the true power of a liberal arts education. The repetition of the term “default setting,” conveys the metaphoric meaning of his opening anecdote in order to make his point to the audience.

Wallace often talks about our default setting, which is our natural and unconscious tendency to feel as if one is the center of the universe. He preaches that the value of education is to make a conscious decision to think differently about the frustrating situations of everyday, grown-up life. Wallace tells his audience to resist the default setting when he speaks about how the default setting makes one self centered and miserable. Wallace states, “If I don’t make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, I’m gonna be pissed and miserable every time I have to shop. Because my natural default setting is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me” (XIV). Wallace explains the inevitability of these situations happening. He also claims there is a choice to be made when faced with these situations. Wallace 11 argues the true meaning of a liberal arts education is having the ability to think about these situations differently. A liberal arts education truly gives one the ability to understand other the perspective of another person in the same situation. Wallace also uses the default setting to explain how humans are never content with what they have. Wallace says, “Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious things about these forms of worship is not that they are evil or sinful, it’s that they are unconscious. They are default settings” (XVI). Again, Wallace stabs at the unconscious aspect of the default setting. He is arguing, prior to attending college, his audience did not have the ability to understand the nature of these unconscious desires. Now, through the education process, these desires can be understood and controlled in order to live a more fulfilling life. Through the constant reiteration of the term “default setting,” Wallace exhorts the need to use the power of a liberal arts education to change one’s perception about frustrating adult life. 

In Wallace’s opening anecdote, he tells the audience a story about two young fish who have no idea what water is. The young, ignorant fish are a symbol for his audience. Water is used as a symbol for adult life. Wallace argues, through this metaphor, his audience lacks the experience to know what life really is, similar to the fish in the story that lack the experience. Wallace implies his audience has no idea what the meaning of life is because they have not experienced what it actually means to be an adult and coexisting with people in annoying situations. He argues the power of a liberal arts education is to prepare oneself for the “water,” or rigors of life after college. At the close of his speech, Wallace reminds the audience of his opening anecdote. Wallace says, “This is water. This is water” (XVII). By reminding the audience of his opening story, he tells his crowd how important it is to be aware of life. No matter how frustrating it can be, people must remind themselves it is part of life. Plus, he implies the true meaning of a liberal arts education: the ability to understand life is not easy. He also stresses the importance of being able to remind ones self to avoid being self centered through the previous experiences encountered. Being able to understand what life is cannot be done without experience and education. In the opening parable, Wallace explains the story stating, “Two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods and says ‘Morning boys. How’s the water?’… eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water’” (X). This quote is in the very beginning of the speech, so the audience may not understand the point quite yet. Wallace, in this instance, is trying to get his audience to think about the significance of the short story he just told. Perhaps maybe some of the graduates sitting in front of him can put their liberal arts education into practice by understanding they are young fish, with no idea what the world holds for them. Through deeper reading of this speech, it can be understood that many of the points made in “This is Water” all tie back to the original opening parable. Wallace submits through this quote, experience is everything, and he will go on to make the point that his audience has very little experience. Once they discover what “water” is, they will be rudely awakened. Wallace contends a real education is more about simple awareness rather than actual knowledge. Simple awareness, comparable to the young fish who are not aware enough to realize they live in water is what a real education is. Wallace, although very blunt, uses literary devices effectively to make his point in “This is Water.” Wallace conveys to his audience the true meaning of their education. He argues it is more than just a material payoff, but rather an ability to be self aware and conscious of the world. In a variety of techniques, including metaphor and repetition, Wallace does this. He repeatedly states and explains the term “default setting” to make his audience mindful of  their unconscious tendency to become self centered. He says the value of education is being able to decide not become self centered; he also uses his opening anecdote to submit the true meaning of a liberal arts education. The story about the fish unable to understand what water is relates to the new adults, who do not really have a strong grasp on the meaning of life. To conclude, Wallace uses repetition and metaphor to show the full function of a liberal arts education.
