The point of Wallace’s speech is not that of an ordinary commencement speech where the speaker may say to go out and do something in the world. In fact, his point is the opposite. The goal of Wallace’s speech is to question the common way of thinking about what you are doing in the world. He encouraged people to be aware of what is really going on around them. He did not want people to fall into the natural setting that so many people do, which is nothing more than an individual believing everything revolves around themselves. To Wallace, the idea of a liberal arts degree is not about the material payoff, instead it holds a value to the overall development of an individual and how they view the world.

From the beginning of his speech, Wallace is immediately speaking differently than the conventional style of commencement speeches. In the beginning of his speech he says, “the main requirement of speeches like this is that I’m supposed to talk about your liberal arts education meaning” (Wallace XI). He then continues, but it is the start to the central theme of his entire speech. Wallace is essentially encouraging the listeners to think against the grain of thought. In other words, he wants the listeners of his speech to questions conventional wisdom. Wallace shares a story to back this up. He starts by saying, “There are these two young fish swimming along when they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods to them and says ‘morning boys, how’s the water?’ the two young fish swim for a bit and eventually one looks at the other and says, ‘what the hell is water?’” (X). This parable supports Wallace’s theme in more than one way, but on the surface it can be seen as a metaphor. It resembles two people who go through life in a “natural default setting” (XIV), not knowing what is going on around them or what life really is. This is the way of thinking that Wallace is trying to encourage against. He wants the people of higher education to be aware of the world they are living in, and acknowledge that his or her thoughts are not always the only way of looking at things.  They are only one perspective

 Later in his speech, Wallace shares a parable of two men talking in a bar, one is an atheist and one is a man of faith. They begin to battle about the existence of God when the atheist says that he even tried to pray to God for help when he was stuck in a snow blizzard and would surely die. He recounts the story to the man of faith by saying, “I even tried it, I fell to my knees and cried out ‘Oh God, if there is a God, I’m lost in this blizzard and I’m going to die if you don’t help me!’” (XI).   The atheist then went on to explain how two Eskimos found him and led him to safety. The atheist did not credit his obvious survival to God but instead to chance. This obviously offended the man because in his eyes, God sent the Eskimos to save the atheist. This parable is a lesson not of religion, but a lesson in regards to arrogance. When Wallace first tells this parable it is easy to pick a viewpoint between the two men and back up their argument. But what few people tend to do, including the two men in the parable, is try and look at it from the other perspective. The atheist in the story just assumed that the two men who saved him were there by chance. He never once thought from the perspective of the man of faith. This all goes back to the central theme mentioned earlier, which is to question the way of conventional thinking. Think outside of what makes you comfortable or how you normally come to conclusions. This encourages understanding of other people and his or her beliefs. In essence, this is Wallace’s way of encouraging us to be more well-rounded individuals.

Wallace continues with his words on being aware throughout the day-in and day-out lifestyle. He describes a day where one, “gets up in the morning, goes to [their] challenging, white-collar, college graduate job and will work hard for ten hours a day” (XII). He then continues with his point by talking about the transition from a hard day’s work, to the simple task of getting home. He described how difficult getting home might seem sometimes. The drive home may be filled with long lines of backed up traffic and even something as monotonous as going to the grocery store becomes a major challenge. Wallace describes the grocery store as, “hideously lit and infused with soul-killing music or corporate pop, and is the last place you want to be” (XIII). Dramatic, maybe, but Wallace has a point to his hostility towards the grocery store. He describes a scene that is applicable to so many people. This is a task that many people find to be aggravating after a day of work, thinking of other things that are a more productive use of time. These everyday nuisances are times of choice in Wallace’s eyes. It is easy to get angry at the backed up traffic or the overly crowded supermarket. The message that relates back to that central theme once again, is to not fall into the trap of accepting the self-pity and frustration. One can make the choice to be aware that the world does not revolve around them, and that his or her problems are often times not the biggest. This attitude is where Wallace finds the value in a liberal arts degree. That person that is holding up traffic may be dealing with things in his or her life that many would never understand. This is just Wallace’s way of telling the graduates to look at the bigger picture. Just like the parable of the young fish, the whole time they had no idea they were swimming in water. The same thing may happen to individuals if they get stuck in the monotonous affairs of life. Seeing the bigger picture and true value of all the experiences we go through in life.

In conclusion, Wallace’s words were to encourage the graduates to think; think differently and against conventional wisdom. When everyone else is stuck in his or her comfort zone, like the atheist and man of faith at the bar, think about things from a different perspective. Be less arrogant and understand the bigger picture. Wallace’s lesson is to avoid that natural default setting that so many people fall into, and instead think and be aware. 
