The world is a place in which everyone's lives are constantly intertwined and influential of each other while simultaneously involving each individual as their own person with separate thoughts and ideas. Chemists have proven that in the world, matter can neither be created nor destroyed which means each person is on Earth as their own being but they all play a part within a larger entity whether they are aware or not. The concept of individualism plays a vital role in the creation of the world because society develops and grows through the thoughts and ideas that are generated by divergent intellectuals and thinkers.  By relating Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and David Foster Wallace's "This is Water" it is simple to understand a common theme of purposefulness and the importance of individualism using powerful diction, absurd hyperboles, and thought-provoking metaphors. 

Wallace and Emerson both utilize diction that elicits thoughts and actions that are powerful and beneficial to society. Wallace states that there is a "triumphal academic setting" (Wallace XII) which allows the listener to realize how powerful they truly are. Universities are typically revered as institutions with some of the brightest minds in our society which reminds the listener that they should be confident in their thoughts and actions they make and that they are doing things for a purpose. Wallace reminded the listeners, "Please do not think ... that I'm saying this is how you're 'supposed to' think" (Wallace XII). He emphasizes the importance of producing thoughts that are personal and unique to only the person creating them. He puts special significance with the use of quotation marks on "'supposed to'" so that the reader truly understands how unrealistic the idea is to think in exactly the same way that he stated earlier in his speech. He states this sarcastically to attract attention so that the listeners can focus on how absurd that action would be. Emerson utilizes the phrase, "trust thyself" (Emerson 439) to accentuate the importance of have the ability to rely on yourself. The use of the word thyself is unique to the average culture. Although the work was written in a different time when this dialogue would be more common, he emphasizes divinity in the following sentence which indicates that the use of 'thyself' was to relate the individual to God and biblical individuals. During the time period in which the work was written, religion was still treated with extremely high respect which prompts the reader to believe they are powerful and have a divine purpose, similar to God and his disciples.  Emerson then states that peace is unattainable without the "triumph of principles" (Emerson 455). Similar to Wallace, Emerson uses the word 'triumph' as well to establish superiority while also reminding the reader that their own principles are vital to society. Triumph is a word that is particularly employed to demonstrate importance. Emerson and Wallace both strategically used it to inspire the readers and listeners to relate themselves to the work so that they would strive to achieve their purposefulness as well. He states that principles are vital to peace which is apparent in common society. Principles allow for a person to feel as if they have a purpose by producing guidelines to follow. For example, the phenomenon is evident in children who do not behave because they typically do not have a strong set of principles instilled in them at a young age while others who do grow to have a feeling of purposefulness and meaning. 

Wallace and Emerson continuously use hyperboles within each work so that the reader may visualize the worst possible scenario. Wallace begins his speech with stating that "everything in my own immediate evidence supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe" (Wallace XII). Although Wallace later states that he knows this to be untrue, it is a surprising reality that many people do not recognize. Each person goes through daily life without noticing that everything that happens directly pertains to them. It is rare for someone to admit that they believe they are the absolute center of the universe but it is a completely unavoidable thought process even if it is a completely absurd idea. It's impossible to be the center of everyone and everything in the world, but within each person's own life they only acquire evidence proving that they are. He later expressed that the main goal is to avoid going through an average life as "a slave to your head" (Wallace XIII). He truly exaggerates the importance of living a fulfilled life to avoid the daily thoughts that will eventually lead to the reader's own demise. Although he uses valid evidence of suicidal thoughts in a previous statement, the emphasis on the reader becoming a slave and succumbing to each dreadful thought the mind creates is nearly unbearable to imagine. It allows for the reader to believe that they may eventually be forced to commit suicide as well if they do not establish a sense of purposefulness. Similarly, Emerson uses a metaphor also as a hyperbole that asserts "imitation is suicide" (Emerson 439). The purpose of this statement is to prove that imitating another person results in the loss of the reader's own self and thoughts. Emerson exaggerates the effects of imitation so that the reader believes that they will cease to exist. He hints that even if the reader only imitated one idea, it would still be just as impactful as imitating every thought, idea, or action another person makes. It is unfair to the reader to amplify the seemingly disastrous outcome. Emerson then states that with the lack of self-reliance, "Jesus and Judas are shoved equally aside" (Emerson 447). The statement infers that if the reader does not rely on their own ideas and thoughts they will lose their religious touch and spirituality. This is bizarre because Emerson also emphasized the lack of self-reliance within religion. Christianity, in particular, focuses on non-changing stories that were told long ago with a set of ideals that every believer conforms to. Emerson implements arguments for each side of self-reliance within religion which implies that he is not completely sure how he feels about that specific aspect. He could have also been hesitant about including arguments against religion during the 1800s in which the topic was still not regularly spoken about with a negative connotation. 

Wallace and Emerson both base a large part of their arguments on metaphorical concepts and ideas. Wallace's entire work "This is Water" is a metaphor to the world around us. The fish are each individual on the Earth and the water is the world that surrounds the individual. He states that "the fish story is the ... important realities that are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about" (Wallace XII). The story revolves around fish being asked how the water is, yet they are already unable to answer the question about what the water is in general. This relates to everyday life in the sense that the first fish is essentially asking how life and their surroundings are but the other two fish do not understand the concept of water. This is relevant to society by the way that the most difficult memories and the past make up the life that an individual lives and it takes the most effort to speak about. The fish story as a whole represents the tragedies that happen in the average lifetime. Emerson reminded the reader that "travelling is a fool's paradise" (Emerson 452), to show that people constantly travel and escape their everyday life to seek happiness from other people's creations. Emerson realized that when he had the opportunity to travel he found himself wondering about other places that he had not been able to experience yet. He believes that only a fool would be able to embrace a journey to a place discovered by someone else and embarking on journeys that have been completed so many times before. The purpose of this statement is to imply the importance of creating a journey that involves everyday life and acquiring happiness through the things that surround a person and their own individualism. Emerson continues by stating that "society is a wave" (Emerson 454) to emphasize the importance of each person's time spent on Earth. The time before a person dies is only significant in the time period that they spend living. A wave is constantly moving on while the water that composes the wave is steady in its place which is similar to the life of every human on Earth. Each person has to create the most experiences as they possibly can and embrace the life that they live because as the waves of life go on, their experiences will cease to matter. The importance of this quote is to remind the reader that the experiences they make throughout their life should be their own journey so that when they pass, they have the right to say that they lived their life to the fullest in the way that they wanted to. Once a person has passed, no one will be concerned about them travelling to Rome or following the journey that is expected. Each individual should embark on a journey of life that satisfies their needs and in that way they will have a greater chance of leaving a legacy than an individual who simply followed the well-travelled path. 

Wallace and Emerson utilized diction, hyperbole, and metaphors throughout their work to emphasize the theme of purposefulness and the importance of individualism. Each author believed that individuals should create a life they believe is worth living that doesn't result in a depressive feeling that they must suffer from everyday. The world should be treated as a blank canvas in which the individual has the ability to create a picture that they love based on their ideas that were developed without the assistance of anyone. 

