This is Water

David Foster Wallace gave a commencement speech at Kenyon College, and it is published in the novel, This is Water. In the speech he talks about what makes up the daily grind of life. The boring, frustrating, tiring, endless grind of adult life. After foretelling this future he presents the choice we have to make in that crowded supermarket at the end of a long day. We can give in to our natural desire to be angry and frustrated or to make the choice to think the best of those around us. The world is boring, frustrating, and tedious. This is an undeniable fact. But there are two options from that point. We can fall into the belief that we are the center of the universe and the universe should conform to our needs and desires and be angry and frustrated when it does not. Or we can look at those around us and see the possibilities of the circumstances that surround them. It is easy to forget that everyone around us is just as complicated as we are. Everyone has had their own unique circumstances that brings them to that supermarket. Those circumstances may be tragic or heroic, but in any case we don’t know what has made them into the person that is now standing in that supermarket line. The recognition of these possibilities help us see the humanity in people. They are not just obstacles in our way, but people with hopes, dreams, frustrations, and feelings as complex as our own. So when we stand in that crowded supermarket at the end of a long day, we can look at others and see the infinite possibilities that surround them, we can see that they are humans making their way through life just like us. We are not the center of the universe, so we might as well appreciate the universe that we are a part of. We have to make the decision to imagine others complexly. When we can make that choice, to see others as people and not just things, we give ourselves the option to love others. When we can love others, life becomes so much brighter and less of the frustrating, boring, tedious grind. So when you are in that supermarket and every cell in your body just wants to go home and for everyone to just not be there, you can stop and make that choice of seeing the beauty and complexity in others. Everyone is human, this is water. 

The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent is a novel written by Joseph Conrad telling the story of the attempted bombing of Greenwich Observatory. Mr. Verloc is an agent provocateur that is posing as an anarchist. He lives a domestic life with his wife, Winnie Verloc and her family. In the beginning of the novel, Mr. Verloc is called to the Embassy to have a meeting with his superior Mr. Vladimir. During the meeting Vladimir severely reprimands Verloc and tells him to attack the Greenwich Observatory and to make it look like an act of sheer madness. Mr. Vladimir says, ““Madness alone is truly terrifying, inasmuch as you cannot placate it by threats, persuasion, or bribes.” Mr. Verloc feels this meeting is the beginning of the end for him. If he cannot complete this act of the madness then he will lose his way of life. This quote foreshadows how Mr. Verloc will actually lose his life. When Winnie discovers that Mr. Verloc was responsible for her brother Stevie’s death, she goes into a trance of madness. Her entire being is filled with the thought that Mr. Verloc killed Stevie and he must pay. In that state of madness Winnie stabs Verloc. The quote foreshadows this event because while Winnie is dealing with her grief and mourning Mr. Verloc is continuously talking about the future and their plans to live abroad. He assures her of his fondness for her and the security of their future together. These words do nothing to soothe Winnie, and actually cause her more suffering. In her mental state of madness Winnie is terrifying and powerful. She will not be soothed by any words but is simply a force of nature. Her madness will not be placated by Mr. Verloc’s words and there is only one course of action for her to take. Winnie takes the carving knife and plunges it into her husband’s chest. 

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex is a tragedy written by Sophocles. It tells the story of Oedipus, the hero of Thebes as he tries to discover the truth behind the death of the former King Laius. Oedipus discovers dark secrets about his past, and the truth destroys him. A major theme of the play is the power of prophecy. Characters are constantly trying to avoid prophecy but in their efforts they fulfill the prophecies and cause their own doom. But when the truth becomes revealed, many of the characters choose to ignore the truth. A key quote is from Jocasta trying to comfort Oedipus. She says, “Fear? What should a man fear? It’s all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can. And as for this marriage with your mother—have no fear. Many a man before you, in his dreams, has shared his mother’s bed. Take such things for shadows, nothing at all— Live, Oedipus, as if there’s no tomorrow!” At this point in the play the Messenger that eventually reveals that Oedipus is Jocasta and Laius’s son has appeared, and the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Although she says that everything is random and the future cannot be predicted, all prophecies in the play come true. Her flippant treatment of the prophesized incest comes back to haunt her. Although Jocasta says to ignore all prophecies and to live life freely, she did not follow her own advice. When faced with a prophecy that said her son will kill her husband and bed her, she abandoned her baby and caused the events to happen. If Oedipus also did not react so strongly to his prophecy, then he would not have met Laius on the road and caused his own doom. This quote depicts the irony of the play and the forces of free will and prophecy that create Oedipus’s doom. 

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird contains many conflicts and the protagonists face many challenges. Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Atticus takes on the case, he knows he will not win. Despite this Atticus gives the case his all. When Atticus Finch takes on Tom Robinson’s case he ignites what seems like the entire world against him. Even members of his own family turn against Atticus for his decision to take on the Tom Robinson case. His stand against racism in Maycomb County has severe consequences, but Atticus will not sacrifice his morals. When his children question his decision and reasoning, he uses the struggles he is facing as deliberate lessons for his children. Atticus tells Scout, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Atticus has the ability to understand the gravity of small struggles in daily life and applies them to display the fundamentals of true moral behavior. He stands up for what he believes even when the entire world is against him. Atticus does not without even the smallest hope of victory. From the second he took on the Tom Robinson case, Atticus knew that he would never successfully acquit Tom. But he took on this case anyway, because he knows what is right and what must be done. Atticus is a role model for his children and the reader. He represents courage in the face of assured defeat and he fulfills the role without a moment’s pause. Atticus has courage to fight for what is right in the bleakest of circumstances, and stands up unflinchingly against the world that is against him.  

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is novel telling the story of the Finch family during one of the most difficult summers of their lives. Atticus Finch takes on the case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. It is an extremely controversial case and Atticus knows from the start that he will not win. Atticus also knows that taking this case will also bring on a storm of hatred and ill feelings onto him and his family. Despite this fact, Atticus made a choice that he knew would change his life forever. Atticus explains to Scout on why he decided to take the case:" The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again. Because I could never ask you to mind me again. Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess," Atticus makes the decision to defend Tom Robinson because there is no other choice for him. If he rejects the case then he loses everything he stands for and believes in. Although Atticus could lose his standing and his safety, it is more important to stand up for the truth. This case is a test of how tightly Atticus will hold onto his morals in any circumstances. When he takes on this case he knows that there will be trouble that will affect him and his entire family. Throughout the entire novel   Atticus constantly makes the choice to stand up for truth and integrity despite the world telling him to give up on what he believes in. 

A Tale for the Time Being

A Tale for the Time Being tells the story of Nao, a teenage girl writing a diary in Tokyo, and Ruth, a woman living in Desolation Sound in Canada, who is reading Nao’s diary. Throughout the course of the novel, Nao and Ruth form an intimate relationship despite their difference in time and space. The ending deviates strongly from the rest of the book. The majority of the novel is written in a very down to earth style with influences of Zen teaching. Then at the end, the Zen teaching takes a forefront and it becomes more mystical and supernatural. While reading the diary it abruptly ends despite the fact that Ruth knows that it was longer. Then in a dream she tells Nao’s father to go find her at the bus stop and directly affects Nao’s future although it is in Ruth’s past. After Ruth’s dream, the diary is completed. Ruth and her husband, Oliver, discuss what happened and Oliver presents the idea of quantum physics and multiple occurring universes. The ending feels discordant with the style of the rest of the novel. Ruth spends the entire book growing a relationship with Nao and then coming to terms with the fact that her story is done and she cannot save this little girl. Then suddenly at the end she affects Nao’s life and changes everything. Ruth’s acceptance of the fact that Nao has lived her life and she cannot change the past is a big moment that is then completely upturned and made irrelevant.  The ending was also a sudden shift from the very down to earth to complicated science. Personally the ending with Ruth changing the past seems like a deus ex machina and it almost feels cheap. A Tale for the Time Being is unafraid to say the hard truths of painful situations and is willing to face the fact that there isn’t always a solution to the problem. Yet the end conflict is fixed with a perfectly convenient solution with some science that came out of the left field. The ending feels forced and out of place with the rest of the novel. 

A Tale for the Time Being

A Tale for the Time Being is written by Ruth Ozeki detailing the story of Ruth reading a teenage girl’s diary. Ruth by reading Nao’s diary begins to form a close friendship with the girl despite never meeting her or being able to find any proof of her existence. Through the unique structure of the book, Nao and Ruth create a dialogue with each other and they form an intimate bond despite the distance that divides them. The distance between them is not something to underestimate. Nao wrote and finished her diary months and months before Ruth ever finds it on the beach. Their relationship transcends time and space which is a major theme of the book. Time is described as, “Do not think that time simply flies away. Do not understand ‘flying’ as the only function of time. If time simply flew away, a separation would exist between you and time. So if you understand time as only passing, then you do not understand the time being.   To grasp this truly, every being that exists in the entire world is linked together as moments in time, and at the same time they exist as individual moments of time. Because all moments are the time being, they are your time being.” This provides a unique perspective on time and points out the relativity of time.  This quote describes how Nao and Ruth’s relationship can work. There is no separation between them because they are linked together by the simple fact that they are human beings that in the universe. Ruth and Nao are both beings in time, there is no time that has passed between them because all moments of time are linked together. This quote is important to the novel because it explains how time is viewed in the novel.