
“This is Water”, written by David Foster Wallace, is a commencement address delivered to the Kenyon College graduating class of 2005. In his speech, Wallace argues that we all believe that we are “the absolute center of the universe; the realest, most vivid and important person in existence.” (XII) Life is just one long routine, and most people deal with it by being alone in their head and a slave to themselves. Wallace believes that this is our default setting and the only way to change this is to change our way of thinking. He uses anecdotes, metaphors, and diction to convey his message that we need to stay “conscious and alive in the adult world.” (XVII)

Wallace uses multiple anecdotes in his speech to make it feel more intimate and personal with the reader. The first anecdote used is about two men: an atheist and a religious man. The atheist got caught in a blizzard, asked God for help, and two Eskimos came and saved him. The religious man believed God saved him, and the atheist believed it was pure coincidence. In this story, the atheist is stuck in his head and is too close minded. He doesn’t see from the religious man’s perspective because he is stuck on the default setting. Human natural instinct is to is think self-centered, but Wallace argues that if we can fight this instinct, it will give us better self-worth in relation to the world. Wallace urges us to walk a mile in everyone’s shoes and figure out where their beliefs come from. If we spend our time being so self-centered and caught up in our internal monologue we lose empathy. The second anecdote used describes what “day in day out” means: the everyday struggle of going to work, shopping, and driving that repeats for the rest of our lives. In our natural, default mode, we see other people as distractions and annoyances that get in the way of our routine. We don’t stop to think about what is happening in their lives and are too concerned with our own. His point is that we all have a choice: to consider other’s emotions and past experiences, or to cast them to the side and remain the stars of our own movie. Wallace’s anecdotes bring him closer to the audience who are implicated in his accusation of self-centeredness and give them something to relate to while also making him seem more human.

The main metaphor used in “This is Water” is the story about two fish swimming in water. The younger fish are symbols for the audience, which are graduating college students. The message in the metaphor is that we are oblivious to our surroundings even if it’s what keeps us alive. This metaphor can be applied to anyone in any situation; “water” for one person might not be the same as “water” for another person. In his speech, Wallace states that “the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.” (X) This is what water is; what surrounds us and what we’re swimming in in our everyday lives, what sustains us even if we pay no attention to it.

The diction Wallace uses makes him seem humble to the audience while delivering his not-so-humble message. He says “I am not the wise old fish,” insisting that he is not any more important than us. (Wallace X) While explaining to the audience that we’ve only experienced our lives in the first-person point of view, he uses a repetition of the word you: “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.” He does this to show us how self-absorbed we are, as this is the average person’s way of thought. There is also a repetition of the word worship: “Worship power… worship your intellect… everybody worships.” (Wallace XVI) Wallace argues that worshiping is a part of our default settings and is also our downfall. Worshipping leads to needing and wanting unnecessary things. The world will encourage us to fall back into our default settings, but by using “attention and awareness and discipline” we will regain our sense of empathy. (Wallace XVI)

In conclusion, David Foster Wallace uses a variety of techniques to convey to the audience that we need to stay awake and alert in the world and to stop living so self-centered. He achieves ethos and pathos through his anecdotes because they give him a human dimension and get the audience engaged in his speech. His use of the metaphor in his speech fits well because the point of his speech is that you are free to interpret life how you want to, and that is also the message of the metaphor. His diction reveals that he isn’t the old fish in the metaphor but one of the young fish. He humbles himself and puts himself at the same level as the audience. Wallace’s main message to us is that we need to consciously make decisions and choose what to think about every day or else we get stuck in the routine. Wallace’s speech is about awareness: “Simple awareness - awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: "This is water, this is water." (XVII)