Analysis Of David Foster Wallace's This Is Water

In David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” he speaks about how most people are crafted with very similar thoughts in mind. According to Foster all people hold one same quality from birth. By looking at Wallace’s usage of “Default Setting”, we can see that their is ambiguous meaning but chiefly it is referred to as a quality that people are cursed with, which most readers don't see; this is important because Wallace speaks on the notion that people are selfish and don't consider how others feel, and those qualities are considered to be the “Default Setting.” Wallace is first seen using “Default Setting” in his third paragraph. To this point in the speech the connotation was considered to be neutral. But Wallace then referred to the “Default
“Default Setting” in this is seen as a positive to most, because of this quote. “ And the world will not discourage you from operating on your default-settings, because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom.” This quote leads the reader to believe that it is possible to achieve vast wealth through the “Default Setting.” From a faulty perception of Wallace’s use of “Default Setting” the reader believes the setting can help achieve this because you will be acting for yourself, putting “your needs”, “your wants”, and “your goals” ahead of everyone else's, because “you” are at the center of every situation. But really what Wallace wants the reader to see is that actually what is being said is simply just a mockery. Wallace is attacking the “Default Setting” by pointing out that using it in this fashion is greedy and disappointing. From this fragment of the previous quote, “the world will not discourage you” Wallace is trying to hint the reader that nobody will stop “you” from using the “Default setting” only “you” can stop yourself from using it. By leaving the decision up to the reader on whether using the “Default Setting” is the right thing, it allows the reader to deeper analyze the situation and come to the conclusion that using the “Default Setting” to achieve wealth is greedy. It turns the reader to pair “Default Setting” with greed because the reader supposes that if they where to put themselves first in every situation, regardless of the situation then profitability will be close by. At first it seems as Wallace is going to contradict himself but by looking deeper it is visible that “Default Setting” is