This Is Water

Leah Delaney

Dr. Horn

English 1010 – B23

February 23, 2016

Pretend this is not about water

Water is something that the average person does not notice, water is simply water. On May 21, 2005, the seniors of Kenyon College assembled in the gymnasium to accept their diplomas. A man named David Foster Wallace was standing on the stage preparing to give the Commencement speech. Most of these addresses could be bundled together with several common themes: follow your dreams, you can achieve anything and do whatever is most pleasing. These are all common topics of commencement addresses at just about every high school around the world. However, this commencement address from Wallace will be much different. Through the use of personal experiences and dry humor, Wallace gave the graduating seniors a realistic look at life after college. In “This is Water”, David Foster Wallace gives this speech because of the message he is able to give to the students, his delivery of the message, including humor and relatable situations, and his all-around unique approach to the speech.

Wallace started his address with a brief tale of younger fish asking an elder fish about the water. However, the elder fish could not comprehend what the question meant or what the younger fish were talking about. Wallace then explained by saying, “The point of the fish story is that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about” (199). This statement brings him into the main point of his speech, the fact that a change in thinking can save people from the daily routine of their nine to five job. In his speech, he also touches on the fact that believing that every situation is all about you and that every other human or object around you is just an interruption to accomplishing your specific task. This is the base of the anger and unhappiness most people experience. Wallace refers to this as a human’s “natural default setting” (205). To further explain...