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David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech Analysis

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Imagine you wake up late, get yelled at by your boss, therefore you couldn't get the job done for the day and get humiliated in front of everyone at work. You then go to the grocery store to get food and it is very crowded. Since you can't find what you need, you seek for some help but no one is available. You then see a person with the same item you need and ask them for help but they reply to you in anger. Your first instinct is to think bad of them when in reality they might be having a worse day than you. After reading David Foster Wallace's Commencement Speech this scenario might sound familiar as Wallace gives a comparable example and how we see the world in a self-centered way. David Foster Wallace in his commencement speech reveals; …show more content…

As evidence he mentions, "Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear" (Wallace, 8). He mentions that in order to keep fighting you will need power and if that power runs out then even if needed take other people's powers and keep fighting until you numb your own fear. Once the mind starts controlling you, you won't be able to do anything because no matter how hard you try you won't be able to get rid of the judgements or the comments from your head. Those judgements and comments start making room in your mind, you will become powerless, and you won't be able to fight any more in fact it will make you so weak that it will start becoming a habit. When thinking back to how the mind starts controlling you I think back to my situation and how I immediately started judging that person without even thinking of what they are going through. I couldn't stop the judgements from coming in my head because my day was already off to a bad start. Just because Wallace wasn't able to control his mind from these thoughts doesn't mean I won't be able to as well but in fact I will keep trying. I won't let the comments control my mind but instead my own power will control what I think and

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