This is Water

Let me begin my providing my own version of David Foster Wallace's thesis in 'This is Water': he suggests that true freedom acquired through education is the ability to choose to be adjusted, conscious, and sympathetic. People without education don't lack this ability, but without having been taught how to think they may not know they have this choice.  

The most obvious device Wallace uses to develop his thesis is meiosis and litotes. He deliberately undermines his own wisdom and that of what he's saying, for example in 'I am not the wise old fish' and 'please don't think that I'm giving you moral advice'. By reducing the importance that he attaches to his words on the surface, the audience believes they attached the importance themselves, making the speech more personal. 

Wallace uses one main example throughout the essay, which details the life of an average adult after leaving work and having to go to the supermarket for groceries. This is a well chosen example, as many can identify with the boredom and thoughts about these 'stupid god-damn people' in the checkout line. Even if many students may not have experienced these feelings in a supermarket, many in first-world countries have gone through sub sections of his example - be it waiting in line, being stuck in a traffic jam, or having to deal with inconsiderate driving. This manner in which he links his central idea of freedom of thought to the real world makes it more applicable and relevant. 

Later on, Wallace also employs pathos by talking about 'worship' and making sweeping statements like 'everybody worships'. This elicits an emotional reaction, as Wallace has already primed the audience to accept him (see earlier devices) and his ideas. Now, this idea is accepted more readily by the audience, and they respond to the personal question of 'worship' (which asks what supports us?) by looking inside themselves for an answer. 

This is just a selection of ways in which he develops his thesis. This theory contributes to the inquiry question because literature is a form of education, and it makes us aware of other people's emotions, just like Wallace claims education does. The inquiry question is thus an example of his thesis. For instance, as Alice Munro's stories reveal to us more about what average women go through, we are becoming more sympathetic (seeing and identifying with their feelings), adjusted (we see how fortunate we are and where we stand in this world), and conscious (I am now aware of other people's feelings and thoughts). 

David Foster Wallace's essay was truly thought-provoking, and I felt that he put into words an abstract idea that many people may have already been aware of on some level. By doing this, he made the concept of thought choice more concrete, and put more responsibility on us for our own happiness. Personally, I agree with his ideas, especially that it is not knowing these things that is important, but rather applying them in daily life. 

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