"What Is Water?" by David Foster Wallace: The Real Meaning of Adult Life

David Foster Wallace started off his commencement speech with his prominent quote, "What the hell is water?" His metaphor of two young fish asking the elder fish what water is, implies that fresh graduates are not aware of what what a typical real world adult life is made up of. The young fish symbolizes the young graduates, whereas the elder fish symbolizes him teaching the graduates how to think. The main message that Wallace was trying to convey was that life is tedious, and full of frustrations that we do not have any control over, but it could be diminished through the way a person perceives it. He was trying to impart to the students that they are not the center of the world and they should focus not on their pain but other events that could make them feel better about life.

There are "whole parts of adult American life that nobody talks about in commencement speeches," or in the classrooms. This unspoken part of life includes the everyday job that a white collar worker has to go to, the long and tedious drive back home and to places, and the long and boring time spent in the grocery shop. Of course, there are many more repetitive things, but it would be too long to list them all. The reason why speakers do not give this kind of speeches is because it is easier to say something positive and inspiring. The goal of a typical commencement speech is to say something inspiring, and to ignite the spark in the students so they have a goal to reach for.

The reason why Wallace made this depressing speech was because he wanted the students to know what they will be getting into upon graduation. He wants to equip students with the power of thinking differently, and being less self-centered; instead of focusing on what pain you are going through, think about how other people are also suffering.

Wallace is diagnosed with depression, and that is probably the main reason why he wrote his speech in such a depressing way. He spoke of the life as full of darkness, nothing but tediousness and repetitiveness. A few days after his commencement speech, he committed suicide. Notice how even his examples of how to think positively are based on others' pain and suffering. For example, he said how he could think of "The Hummer that just cut me off is maybe being driven by a father whose little child is hurt or sick in the seat next to him, and he's trying to get this kid to the hospital, and he's in a bigger, more legitimate hurry than I am." The way that he thinks and the voice of his speech was really depressing. Since he is depressed, he is more susceptible to his own frustrations. Everyone must be frustrated about something, but frustration has a deeper impact on him compared to others.

Students should be made aware of what a typical adult life is made up of. Yes, even though life is full of repetitive and boring work, there must be some goals that they want to strive for. Wallace has probably lost his meaning in life, and goals. Goals are what make life interesting, and challenging; they are what make life fulfilling, and what makes an individual satisfied. He was too immersed into his own issues that he was not able to look from the positive side; he has probably lost his goal in life. Like the old saying, "things are easier said than done." It was easy for Wallace to say, be more positive, but in the end, he still ended up committing suicide.