In David Wallace’s “This Is Water” commencement speech he uses the word “water” five times. This paper will analyze four of these five occurrences, the third time the word “water” is used Wallace is stating that he is not going to pretend he to be the wise fish and the graduates are the two young fish in the story. This is the only occurrence that isn’t going to be mentioned in this paper. David Wallace makes his uses of the word “water” very strong with a lot of meaning behind each use. This paper will analyze the uses of the word “water” and show how they relate to life. David Wallace relates “water” to life using anecdotes and speech.

The first time David Wallace uses the word “water” in his commencement speech “This Is Water” he uses it to illustrate life. Wallace uses the water as a parallel to the real world by using the older fish to ask the younger fish “Morning, boys. How’s the water” (Wallace, x). In this line “water” is not really water, it’s the fish’s world. The water is their life. The older fish knows exactly what water is because he has been around so long and he has figured it out. The two young fish swim for a bit and then they think; The two young fish have no idea what “water” is though. They swim clueless of their surroundings the same way that new college school graduates scramble into the real world, Life. The fish don’t know what water is but overtime they will figure it out the same way that the graduates will find their way into life, the military, or work. 

The second use of the word “water” is used to indicate how the fish have no idea what they are surrounded by. One of the young fish looks over at the other young fish and says “What the hell is water” (Wallace, x). This line shows how the fish have no idea what they are surrounded by. Wallace shows the young fish as being unaware of their surroundings because they are young and have not learned the ways of life yet. The only thing that will let the fish figure out what water is when they get older and educated and find their path in the water or life just like the older fish that asked them the question. The older fish has already figured out what water is when he asks the two young fish. The young must wait to become like the older fish. They will leave their question of what is water is up to time. The young fish have many different choices they can make to get where the old fish is. They have a long way to go and many choices to make that will lead them to learn what water is. Choice plays a big part in what water is because if the young fish make bad decisions it will take them longer to figure out what life is. The choices Wallace talks about are whether or not you got get a white collar job or if you go get a job elsewhere. Wallace also states that you can chose what kind of person you want to be. For example, if you wait in a long line at the grocery store you could be jerk and yell at the cashier or you could make their day by telling them something nice so it relieves their stress. 

The word water is then stored in the back of Wallace’s mind for a while. He uses water back to back very close to the end of the story when he is concluding his commencement speech. By placing the word water very close together in repetition Wallace wants you to understand that after time we all figure out what water is. Wallace says “This is Water” (Wallace, xvii) twice as he shows that after venturing into the real world outside of college, the graduates will figure out exactly what life is. Life according to David Wallace is waiting line in the grocery store and wondering what everyone else is going through. You have to think that maybe the person in line in front of you is going through a lot more than you are and even if you are in a rush because you just got off work chances are so is the person in line in front of you. If we ever forget about what water is then we forget that we have been trying to figure it out our whole life. We must continue to remind ourselves the same way Wallace reminds the college graduates that “This is Water”. Even if it isn’t the first thing on our mind we have to at least keep water on our minds. Water is life, and life without water would be impossible. We make choices every day that brings us closer to figuring out exactly what water is. Every single choice we make brings us one step closer to figuring out what water is.

Wallace very carefully picks and places where he wants to use the word water in his commencement speech to the graduates. The word is also nicely placed at the beginning and the end of the story when he finally answers his own question from the beginning of the speech. The first time the word water is used  In the end it all boils down to choice. We make choices every day, and each one gives us a small piece of information into learning what life is. The choices we make whether they’re good or bad they still lead us to figuring out what water is. If we didn’t make decisions on a daily basis we wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. Everything we do from pouring milk in our cereal bowls in the morning to deciding whether or not to go work today. Everything in life is a choice or a decision and everyone at one point will eventually learn what water is by making choices in their life.