DFW Empathy and Human Experience in TEWWG

At first glance there isn’t much connecting a 2005 commencement speech about living an empathetic life and a 1937 novel about a woman going through a journey of self-discovering. Though, through further analysis, the texts complement each other. Both of the text conveys the similar theme of understanding the bigger picture. In a sense that, you can never really know what someone’s feelings or what their intentions are unless you experience them yourself. Wallace explores this idea in his speech by discussing how humans subconsciously assume and make judgement of other individuals without understanding the entire situation. Early on in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Janie appears to have an idea of what love is. This idea of love is the gears which move her along her journey of finding true love and self-identity. As the novel concludes with her having an entirely different output of what love is, heavily contrasting her idea of it from the beginning of the novel. Hence mirroring the idea of not truly understanding something without fully experiencing it. A more straightforward example of Wallace’s idea comes in the form of Janie’s experiences with Jody Starks. Jody at first seems like the man that will fulfill Janie’s idea of true love that she had been dreaming of. By initially flattering her and spoiling her, Janie sees Jody as a perfect man for her. Though over time Jody begins to start demoralizing Janie, as well as treating her like an object. Only using her as a means of boosting his reputation and power as mayor with her beauty, instead of loving her and giving her the treatment of someone on the same level as he is. This mirrors Wallace’s discussion on the sub conscience judgment that humans have at first glance, and how the struggle to turn off these automatic assumptions will lead individuals to living a more fulfilling life. Also, a cool connection is between Wallace’s idea of worship consuming us and the character of Jody. As Wallace discusses how we all worship something, and that some people worship power and are consumed by it. A similar idea can be seen in the power-hungry character of Jody, who’s character undergoes negative changes as he acquires more and more power. To conclude, both “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “This is Water”, discuss the necessity to experiencing events and people before making sub conscious decisions about them.