
In the commencement address “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace the talk of “water” is brought up throughout the speech. The first of three instances comes in the first paragraph of the commencement address Wallace tells a story of an older fish passing a pair of younger fish and simply asking “How’s the water boys?” The younger fish turn to each other and ask themselves, “What the hell is water?” (Wallace, X). Wallace shows this to show that most of us at a young age are oblivious to the realities around us, and the common realities we live in day to day are somewhat oblivious to us. This also brings up the argument, do we as people tend to ignore the blatant obvious things within our lives? Or do we also learn to notice these things with age, or does it have to be pointed out to us before we fully notice our surroundings. 

Through the remainder of the commencement address Wallace goes on to demonstrate that everyone does not and will not see or live their live in the same context. This seems to come back to the point that all forms of water are not the same. In this commencement address, the most notable demonstration Wallace gives is a story of two men sitting in bar in a remote part of Alaska. One of the men is religious, while the other is Atheist. The Atheist man begins to tell a story of how he once was lost and stranded deep in the Alaskan woods in a severe blizzard, far away from any sort of civilization. He then goes on to tell the religious man about how right then he hit his knees and tried this whole God thing out. After-all it seemed like his last option. He cries out “Oh, God, if there is a God, I’m lost in this blizzard, and I’m gonna die if you don’t help me.” (Wallace, XI). The religious man then looks puzzled and says “Well you must believe now. After all, here you are, alive.” To this the Atheist just rolls his eyes and says “No, man, all that was was a couple of Eskimos happened to come wondering by and showed me the way back to camp.” (Wallace, XI). To the religious man this was so obvious a God sighting that if it was any clearer it would have smacked the guy in the face. But, that is exactly Wallace’s point, not everyone is going to interpret or see things the same way, and that’s just a fact of life. This is just used as an example of life. Being that the blizzard is frozen water, it is exemplary in the fact that it could be showing that the man could be frozen and not willing to change his thought process. Wallace does a good job of presenting this, and allowing the audience to interpret it the way they want. However, it does show the audience that there are many ways to live your life and all of ours are not going to be the same, just like the forms of water. 

In the last few sentences of his commencement Wallace utters the phrase “This is water” back to back. In this last paragraph Wallace is telling the now graduated students that life is all about knowledge, and not just knowledge but awareness. Awareness of your surroundings and the world we live in. This awareness will cause each and every one of us to see this world differently. This awareness and knowledge will lead each one of these students on their own path and hopefully help them down the road. For most of these students this is probably the first time they have heard anything of this manner. What theyjust gained through college is knowledge. Knowledge of their major, but not knowledge of the outside world. Wallace gives them a glimpse of this with his speech. He also grants them awareness. The awareness to stop and live in the world around you. To not become stagnant, and to not go day in and day out without noticing the world that surrounds you. Wallace also allows them to understand that everyone’s path is going to be different, and to not judge them based on their circumstances. He shows them that just because someone else’s path may be different, they can still reach the same potential or goal that you are striving for.

Wallace is able to use something as simple and as common as water to demonstrate life in its simplest form.  He encompasses this by using water in two of its three stages. The way Wallace uses water to demonstrate our knowledge with everyday life is absolutely significant. The fluidity of the two forms of water he uses is the significant part. With the fish, it clearly states they are young fish. This meaning they are in their youth and still have much to learn. This meaning that one day they may learn to stop and look at the more obvious things around them. With their youth comes a form of innocence too. They fail to see what surrounds them. That could be the state that most of students hearing this commencement address are in. Young and innocent, and about to step into a world that they might know nothing about. It will take time for them to be aware of their surroundings, but it will come with age and experience. The second example with the man stuck in the blizzard. He prays to God during the blizzard (frozen water) and then when rescued only thinks it is a coincidence. Wallace uses frozen water to show the man’s stagnant form of thinking. He is closed minded to the fact that maybe just maybe it was God that saved him. He is frozen just like the water. Frozen in his mind state. He is unable to accept the fact that it may have been God that saved him. This just shows that throughout the world you will find many different “forms” of people, but through it all they are still people. Finally, the last example is when Wallace is wrapping up his speech. He talks about water again to the students. This meaning that they are still young, they can still make their own path and their own experiences. Wallace knows that the biggest decisions of their lives are coming in the next couple of years, so with this he encourages them to find their own path. Wallace also knows that all of their paths will be different, but they have the power to determine these paths. It is only up to them whether they want to flow like water or whether they want to be frozen. Are we going to go through life stuck in the same mindset or are we going to open our mind to new ideas?

The argument that Wallace takes on is a valid one. Do we actually go through everyday life oblivious to most of the things that surround us? After reading this, people should say yes. Do we also accept the fact that everyone will have a different take on the majority of issues in the world? Wallace makes a very strong argument and really tells the recent graduates the reality of the world they are about to step into. He lets them know that there are going to be bad days, but everyone has bad days. With these bad days, good days are going to come about too. We, as humans living in the same world, just need to cherish these good days a little bit more. Wallace also reminds them to open not only their eyes but their brain as well when it comes to differences they will encounter in people and in everyday life. Yes, this commencement address might have been a heavy weight for a lot of the students that were hearing it, but it was needed. So thank you David Foster Wallace, for telling a story that is not easy to hear but needed to be heard. 
