Every day, people are given the option of the what they want to think about, whether it be thinking about themselves or taking into consideration how other people feel. Most often, it is easier for people to choose to just think about themselves and the way they feel because people’s minds have a “default setting” in which they naturally think of themselves first. The manner in which people think can greatly impact the way they see others and the world as a whole. How easy is it for someone to look differently at the people that surround them? What negative situations have other people around a person had to face? The answers to the following questions can be found in David Foster Wallace’s graduation address “This is Water.” In paragraphs 22-23 on page XV of David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water,” the reader can see that Wallace’s use of imagery supports his idea that every person has a choice about how they view the people around them, and not everyone is cognizant of that ability. Knowing this is important because the realization of a person’s ability to change the way they think, can change a person’s perspective of the people around them. 

The imagery in paragraph 22 of the text leads the reader to think about the people they pass by every day and what they look and sound like. By noticing this, the reader can decide whether or not they want to change their perspective of other people. When a person goes to the grocery store, they are more than likely going after a long day of work or school and are just trying to go in, get what they need, and go home. The person is not going to think about the people around them and what they went through to get to the grocery store, because that is not their life. It is so easy for a person to disregard the people surrounding them because that individual is centered on themselves. Wallace uses a vivid sense of imagery when he says, “…you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady in who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line” (XV). His use of the phrases “fat,” “dead-eyed,” and “over-mad-up” allow the reader to picture this lady for himself. He goes on to bring up scenarios using the word “maybe” before each one to signify that upon seeing a person there is no way of really telling what that person has been through in the day or even the week. Each person has a unique life and unique stories that just by looking at a person cannot be found out. For one of his scenarios, Wallace brings up that “maybe [the lady has] been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer” (XV). The thought of a woman holding her dying husband’s hand is a startling image. No one wants to hear about anyone going through something as heart-breaking as cancer, so using this as a possible scenario for a person’s life really makes an individual think. Furthermore, Wallace then extends his use of imagery by making a relation to the reader: “Or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department, who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a horrific, infuriating, red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness” (XV). By using the phrase “low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department,” Wallace places an image of this woman into the reader’s head which helps to get his point across that she is just trying to help support her family and get her husband out of a ticket. He uses words such as horrific, infuriating, and red-tape problem to make the reader feel a sense of regret because of the harsh words he uses to describe the problem. All in all, people need to be more cognoscente of the people around them.

Another example of imagery can be found in paragraph 22 that illustrates the fact that all people grow up with a specific way to think. Although this is true, people do not have to continue to think this way as they go off on their own. It is safe to say that parents play a large role in a child’s life, especially when it comes to how the child behaves and thinks. If a parent likes a certain brand of cereal more than any other, the child will most likely buy the same brand when they get older because that is what they grew up eating. Wallace explains this theory using imagery: “If you’re automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you… probably won’t consider possibilities that aren’t annoying and miserable” (XV). By using the phrase “default setting,” Wallace is referring to the way peoples’ brains naturally tell them to think from the day they are born, or the way people tend to think rather than choosing what to think about. Also, a person’s brain gets an image in their mind after reading this about how they view the people around them and it causes them to think. It is somewhat unsettling and alarming that Wallace would use the phrase “default setting,” because it comes with the negative connotation that every person is programmed to think a certain way and that way cannot be changed. The phrase also puts the image of a machine in the mind of the reader. Moreover, Wallace talks about considering possibilities that are annoying and miserable which causes people not to want to think about them. This results in a narrow field of vision for the individual because they have no way of changing the way they think. Ultimately, every person has their own way of thinking that is shaped by their parents and the people around them. These people have the option to change the way they think if they put their minds to it. 

Finally, the imagery comes full circle by saying that, in the end, people have the option to choose what they would like to think about other things and people. No matter what the situation may be, people have the opportunity to view it the way they see fit. For example, if a person is stuck in traffic on the way home from a long day at work, that person can either choose to let road rage get the best of them or they can think of the other people on the road and remain calm, cool, and collected. Wallace demonstrates imagery when he says, “the only thing capital-T True is that you get to decide how you’re gonna try to see it” (XV). The imagery behind this statement is a little less visible; when Wallace mentions that a person gets to decide what they want to see, that allows the person’s mind to imagine something that can be seen differently. Putting large emphasis on the capital “t” part of this phrase shows readers that when Wallace says it is the only true thing, he means it. The only thing people know for sure and should take from this is that a person’s thoughts are that person’s thoughts and it is up to that person what they do with the thoughts they have. 

In Wallace’s speech “This is Water,” he uses imagery to give the reader a real depiction of what it is like for someone to use their default setting to make a decision. A person can never truly tell what is going on in another person’s life and for that reason, among other things, it is imperative that people open up their minds and change the way they think. Imagine being at the gym for the first time after having not been for few months. You probably do not feel too good and it does not make it any better that people are looking at you. Now think about the situation being the opposite way around, how would you feel? No person wants to be belittled for going out and doing something for the better of themselves. Better yet, nobody deserves to be treated as a lesser individual for doing what they need to do. It is never too late to change the way a person thinks and for a person to open the mind. Be cognoscente of other people and what they could be going through. 
