There is no denying that the late David Foster Wallace had a great deal of experiential wisdom to share with society. He seemed to see life in a far more perceptive manner and recognized how easy it is to fall into the routine of annoyance and unsettling discontent that can sometimes accompany everyday life. In 2005, Wallace spoke in front of Kenyon College’s graduating class of a few hundred excited and nervous graduates. To a lot people, this would not even be a worthy announcement for the hurried ticker of news at the bottom of the screen utilized by several network talk shows; However, the speech, titled This Is Water, that Wallace delivered on that late May morning later impacted academia to a great extent. This address was, and is, without a doubt the most reviewed and discussed publication of Wallace’s literary career and arguably the most significant moment in his tragically short life. Many DFW enthusiasts wrote certain pieces analyzing the effect of the commencement speech and said various things such as, “…what makes the speech disarming is what made it a brilliant career move…a way of amplifying Wallace’s braniac celebrity with a sentimentality of Roald Dahl proportions” (Emily Harnett). Regardless of my personal disparagement felt towards portions of This Is Water, I fully concede to the fact that Wallace did exemplify his sagacious persona that the academic world would later glorify and analyze him for. He taught several hundred college graduates the importance their degrees hold along with importance of empathy, ego, and perspective.  Having said all of that, I feel it necessary to mention that there were certain segments of his speech to which I would have strongly suggested that he revise. He remained headstrong to the argument of avoiding the customary “deployment of didactic parable-ish stories” (Wallace, This Is Water) because to him that seemed to be the “standard requirement of US commencement speeches” (Wallace, This Is Water). This resulted in a brief, but unnecessary digression from his otherwise important meaning.

Nevertheless, throughout the transcript Wallace certainly holds true to his promise of not remaining within the confines of cliché, by illustrating how mundane and brutal life after receiving one’s cryptic liberal arts degree can be. When I initially heard this speech I was drawn into interest through his allegorical introduction of the two fish not recognizing their very environment as water for the larger reason that perspective and reality can vary greatly. The profundity of that comparison to the true benefit of education as a tool to help everyone choose what and how to think was certainly a gripping one. However, Wallace’s extended explanation of that concept transcended the threshold of normalcy when he stated, “It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in: the head. They shoot the terrible master” (Wallace). While fear is known to be a powerful motivator, the setting in which he associated the inability to think correctly with suicidal behavior was not fitting. Now I am not propagating the mass distribution of false hope, but there is something to be said about what Wallace declared the standard US commencement address. Neglecting the insufferable realities of the “real world” with hopes that the audience will cultivate motivation through positive reinforcement is arguably easier to swallow and more efficacious than scaring twenty-one and twenty-two year-olds straight. Even still, Wallace certainly had no issue nor moral dilemma instigating fear into the minds of those Kenyon Graduates. Wallace may have been correct in that casualties of suicide preform such an act in that way, but with the indifference its perceived to be spoken with, the audience could very easily denote suicide as commonplace. That denotation is incredibly detrimental to the graduates listening and has an extrapolated relevance to the overall message which itself is virtuous.

With the country emerging into an amorphous bubble of enforced political correctness, public speakers in general tend to steer clear of the conversation of harsh reality. With regards to this, and in contrast to my previously expressed opinions, Wallace deserves some commendation for giving fair warning to the unpopular truth of the daily routine that typical working class people go through. He certainly did not fit the mold of the mainstream commencement speaker and that was accompanied by moments of brutal imagery, but also with effective calls to break free from the subconscious egotistical perspective. Towards the end of his speech he introduces several other metaphors and asks the graduates in the audience to actively choose to think in certain manners. Through a mundane illustration, he vividly puts the image of a typical day for a white collar employee and acknowledges that these daily monotonous tasks can cause you excess stress and anxiety. The main part of this message is that many people operate automatically on the belief that they are the center of the universe and their needs should be the worlds priority. While many people in everyday routines operate on this plane, they don’t realize that it is only causing them more strain. This entire example is meant to tie back to the initial allegory of the two fish swimming unaware of their watery environment because their perspective is subconsciously self-centered. The true benefit of the liberal arts degree that those Kenyon graduates worked 4 years to attain is that through their education they learned how and what to think. More importantly they learned the virtuous concept of empathy and in that they can take a step back from their own universe and show compassion towards the daily annoyances that cause this mundane life after college that Wallace tried to illustrate. With empathy and compassion, you can not only benefit your mental health by virtually eliminating daily stress and anxiety, but also benefit your physical well-being by lowering your blood pressure and becoming less susceptible to disease. 

While unorthodox, and at times arguably inappropriate, David Foster Wallace made a decision to not follow the outline of the emblematic US commencement address. Fellow Kenyon College commencement speaker and former graduate, Jon Green, said “…Wallace delivered what is widely held to be the gold standard for commencement speeches…” (Jon Green). Understanding the bias, this is a clear overstatement; However, Wallace did take the commonly discussed topic of the true value of a liberal arts education and completely obliterate previously conceived notions. He constructed a widely neglected, yet very important, message that helped those nervous graduates understand their environment far better. The significance of a liberal arts education is not the job you will inevitably get, nor the capability of succeeding in said job. It rests within each graduate’s ability to think, take a step back from automatic self-centeredness, show compassion and express empathy, and in doing that each one of them will live healthier and happier lives. As the young fish said to the other, “What the hell is water?” (Wallace). Life after college can easily conform to the humdrum image that Wallace so eloquently illustrated if you remain in the closed mindset of those young fish. It all begins with the simple paradox that asks us to re-approach life with a sense of reflective understanding in order to realize that our personal insignificance in the world will allow us to live meaningful lives. 
