It was Wednesday, September 10th, exactly 19 hours, 48 minutes, and 14 seconds from my Calculus test. I was planning to study for the test at that time, but I then decided to finish the AP Lang reading and homework. But oh, did I stop after completing the reading and homework? NOO!! Well, technically, YEA. Later, when I finished the homework, I started studying for the Calculus Test at 5:27 pm; however, not for a second did This Is Water by DFW leave my mind. While evaluating functions and justifying the use of limits, I found myself struggling to focus, as I was subconsciously trying to fathom the complexity of the writing in This Is Water. It was a distinct experience from the last reading, The Partly Cloudy Patriot, in which Vowell uses personal anecdotes that are quirky and reflect her individual experiences with history and culture, whereas in This Is Water, DFW used personal anecdotes that are realistic, relatable, and, more importantly, illustrate his central point about choosing how to perceive the world and resisting default, self-centered thinking.
I was curious and baffled when I read about the author and learned that he committed suicide in 2008 after delivering the commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005. While I was locked in studying for the Calculus test, I felt a pit in my stomach. This stuck with me mainly because, while reading This Is Water, I was shaken when DFW said, "It is about making it to 30, or maybe 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head" (15). As soon as I read that, I didn't even know what I was feeling, but it kind of baffled me and left me thinking, WHY? The fact that he died at the age of 46 makes me wonder whether he was already grappling with these struggles when he wrote This Is Water, because the tone of the anecdotes felt subtly melancholic. Especially the imagery he uses to relate to the audience—it felt peculiar and detailed. He seemed to have been suppressing his frustration for years and putting up a mask to hide his default wiring. Wallace expresses his frustration through sarcastically saying, "Then get told to 'Have a nice day' in a voice that is absolutely the voice of death." This pinch of sarcasm and annoyance in his words revealed that, to cope, he may have altered his perspective by shifting his cognition from the default, naturally wired, self-centered mindset to considering others' perspectives. However, subconsciously, he still carried the emotion inherent in his natural wiring, which was self-centered. People close to Wallace described him as intellectually brilliant but emotionally tenuous. He reportedly struggled with depression for decades and sometimes used work and philosophy as a coping mechanism, which can be interpreted as "acting" or "managing" outwardly while suppressing inner pain.
In conclusion, This Is Water is an absolute banger of a speech. The eloquent use of rhetoric to relate to the audience and precise imagery effectively engage the reader, communicating a profound lesson about awareness and empathy. Reading it was a deep, reflective experience for me, leaving me both inspired and contemplative about the challenges of human consciousness and emotional resilience.
I really liked how you connected This is Water to your own studying. Your mix of analysis and personal reflection definitely makes your response more engaging and I like that! Good job on your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteI like how you create a casual tone by using word choice and punctuation like "NOO!! Well, technically YEA" and similarly near the end "an absolute banger of a speech". It makes the blog more enjoyable to read and captivating. Good work!
ReplyDeleteI really like your very playful and casual tone and connecting it to an experience that we can all relate to. I agree with your thoughts while reading when I read the line about "it's about making it to 30, or 50 without shooting yourself in the head." However, I wonder if we would've paid as much attention to it if we didn't know beforehand that Wallace had committed suicide. Overall I loved reading your blog because of how you conveyed deep thoughts but maintained a friendly conversational tone.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your writing style in this! after reading "this is water," I also struggled to get it out of my head, and was contemplating life for a while after.
ReplyDeleteI definitely liked This is Water as well. It changes your perspective on views for life, and it feels so relatable, something that truly has meaning to me and my life. It definitely adds a lot more nuance knowing that what we read could be the journaling of the mental struggles and challenges someone with depression and eventually committing suicide had.
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