In “This is Water”, author David Foster Wallace perfectly describes the importance of respecting the people and things in our surroundings. David Foster Wallace was an American writer who was born in New York. Wallace was a very influential writer and novelist who unfortunately died in 2008 by cause of suicide. One of Foster’s most impressive speeches came at a commencement speech where he talking about respecting your surroundings and how that is a very pertinent aspect to living an honest and healthy lifestyle. If everyone would be willing to take a step back and appreciate the things that are given to them and the things that are done for them, the world would be a much better place than it currently is. “This is Water” was a commencement speech that Wallace gave to Kenyon College’s 2005 graduating class, and in the speech he gave many examples that reflected the ideas of respecting your surroundings.

The first example that Wallace uses is in his story about the two young fish and the one old and wise fish. This is a perfect example of respecting your surroundings and the things that are given to you. The two young fish are completely unaware of the water that they live in and that is keeping them alive each and every day. This relates to us humans, by the way that we take things like nature and even our families totally for granted. We go about our days knowing that these things will always be there for us and that they will always support our lives. People in our society today normally take for granted all of the good things that they have and never truly appreciated what they have until its gone and that is a major problem that has to be fixed with our society. We have to start appreciating all things that we have in our lives so that we can have better grasp on the importance of those things once they are truly gone.

Another example of respect that Wallace used in his speech, is the example of the religious man and the atheist. People now a days have to start getting to the realization that the people who live around them come from all different walks of life, and they all have very different beliefs and values. Very often, people tend to judge their peers if they don’t live the same lifestyle as them. This is another aspect of human life that has to begin to disappear, and with that humans need to become for accepting of others. Although it may be hard at times to agree with someone who has a completely different view on subject than we do, but at least understanding and listening to their point of view is a step in the right direction towards respecting others.

The final example that Wallace uses in his speech when regarding respecting our surroundings is when he talks about the lady at the department of motor vehicle, the lady talking on her phone in the checkout line, and the man who cuts you off on the highway, and how all of these scenarios may have made you very angry but you have to focus on the bigger things in life rather than screaming at people who had a negative impact on your life for a very brief moment in time. Obstacles occur in our lives all of the time, and more times than not, they make an impact on what we are trying to do. Although it may be hard to not get very angry in times like these, Wallace encourages us to stay calm because although those people are making you mad, they could be going through a much harder time than you think. This is where having for respect for others comes into play, in that no matter how tough it may be to forgive certain people and to understand their circumstances, if we can muster up the ability to do so then we can live a happier life.

Overall, David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” does a very good job and getting the message across that we should have the utmost respect for other people and our surroundings. If we would all reevaluate certain aspects of how we go about or lives on a daily basis, and begin to occasionally think of others before ourselves. Through the unique allegories in “This is Water”, the Kenyon graduates are able to see Wallace as a credible and insightful speaker, which in return, alldrows Wallace to effectively communicate his message to the graduates.