David Foster Wallace This Is Water Summary

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David Foster Wallace “This Is Water” commencement speech incited some questionable reactions from the audience. During the monologue, laughter erupted when Wallace described his irritated thoughts while embarking on a simple grocery store run. But why exactly was the audience laughing? The reason behind the hysterics is that these self-centered thoughts not only roam in Wallace’s mind, but also in the minds of every adult. And this instinctive feeling that the world solely rotates around us, poisons what we worship. Humans crave the best for themselves, therefore determining what they glorify: “If you worship money and things...then you will never have enough...Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly”.
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