
People tend to wonder what the meaning of a college degree is. More importantly, they aspire to know what the meaning of life is. In David Foster Wallace’s “This Is Water,” he attempts to interpret the meaning of a college graduate’s education. He repeatedly utilizes the word water and the flow of water to explain the freedom of thought, and how easily most of us ignore the choice to think in our own way and slip into a meaningless life, caged by the person we currently think we are. 

In the second sentence of the first paragraph, David Foster Wallace uses the question “What the hell is water?” to exemplify how obvious and taken for granted the world around us can be (X). He uses this question to introduce the audience to the idea of oblivion, which is important to understand for the rest of the speech. The word water is an example of something a fish might take for granted. He uses it in this instance to explain that living in the water is all a fish knows, just as living on an Earth full of oxygen is all humans know.  It is a necessity we don’t imagine a life without or realize what exactly water is. Humans don’t try to explain the shapeless, smell less, tasteless oxygen, all we know is that we need it to survive. It is obvious to the point that we don’t feel the need to give oxygen a meaning, we can’t fathom what oxygen really is. Just as a fish knows nothing about the liquid they subconsciously swim and live in. The word water can then be understood as a time of thoughtless neglect. 

In the third paragraph, he asks the reader to “think about fish and water, and to bracket for just a few minutes your skepticism about the value of the totally obvious” (Wallace XI). Once he introduces the reader to the obviousness of water, he then uses it to capture the thought process of the reader. The word water then introduces us to his view on the freedom of thought, and that the fish in the water capitalized his freedom to wonder about water. Most fish, and most humans don’t venture into the thought of water or air. The obviousness makes us unwilling to explore and value the limitless components of our life. David Foster Wallace wants the audience to extend their mind and thoughts, beyond the obviousness, just as the fish did with the water around him. With a single word, he broke his idea on thoughts into an idea that is smaller and easier to comprehend for the audience. We can relate our gift of thought, to the fish concerned with the wet world around him. 

Water can also be interpreted by its shapeless, liquid shape. We let our thoughts flow, much like a fish swims with the flow of the water. We believe our thoughts are stuck in this “natural default setting,” however; we actually have a choice. Typically, our thoughts come one after another without understanding our last thought, or consciously choosing the next. We live day by day, experiencing the good and the bad, but no single experience is meaningful unless consumed and thought about in your own way. Wallace’s idea of water allows us to realize that it can be stopped, or transported, much like our thoughts can. With the courage and effort to think, you open your mind to a way that encompasses your own values. “You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t” (Wallace XV). Rather than fall into a stream of thoughts, choosing to think for yourself, leads you to a life engaged with the world surrounding you, and experience essential moments to join with who you truly are. 

Using the word water also encompasses the oblivion we have to others views, beliefs and lifestyles. To a fish, water is an essential necessity to live. Humans drink and swim in water each day not realizing the different uses and values it has. We live in a physical world and make quick judgements that can alter someone’s life. David Foster Wallace claims, “Except we also never end up talking about just where these individual templates and beliefs come from” (XI). Choosing to think deeper into someone’s past and choosing to listen to what they believe is not in our “natural default setting,” it is something we must attempt to truly understand the world and people around us. Water is something we may have never thought of as useful to someone or something else in a different way. The theme of water in this text aids us in taking the time to think and accept the diversity around us.

Wallace’s final mention of water is at the end of the text. He repeats, “This is water. This is water” (XVII). At this point the audience understands the significance of water, however; he wants us to get in the habit of reminding ourselves to think in our own way. These two sentences are in quotes to signify that he wants us to consistently repeat them to ourselves aloud, and in our minds. Often times, we will repeat something out loud or to ourselves to help us remember something, or remember to do something. Wallace uses this tactic, and gives us a one-word hint to carry with us throughout our lives. With the single word water, we are now able to stop, think, and remind ourselves to choose what we think about, when we think about it, how we think about and what it means to us as individuals. He places this particular repetition at the end of the text to leave the audience with the idea of water. 

The repetition has been placed in this text to drill into the audience’s mind that water, is the process of thought. The use of water throughout the text brings the reader back to a single, comprehendible message. Each time he uses it, the audience can relate their continuous, absent minded thoughts to the flow of water. The audience can relate the obviousness of water to a fish, to the obviousness of air to a human. They can also relate the different uses water has in the world, to the different beliefs and values of others. The word water serves as a reminder to think, about how to think and to maximize the freedom of thought. He chose the word water because the direction of water can be changed, it can be transported, its current can be stopped, just like the manner in which we think. Allowing yourself to change your thought process, is allowing yourself to take a different current in the ocean.
