Alice Munro and David Foster Wallace

TASK: Considering the above, in what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Justify your conclusion. Through his essay This is Water, David Foster Wallace aims to imply the importance of being “well adjusted”, he explains that the freedom humans experience through education allows us to be adjusted, conscious and sympathetic. Furthermore, Wallace highlights the utmost importance of learning how to think, essentially freeing yourself from being “slave to your head” by controlling what you think and especially thinking positive and happy thoughts. Wallace further implies the importance of education in developing emotional intelligence and empathy amongst ourselves, he continues to suggest the significance of literary fiction in aiding how we think as well as building our emotional intelligence. The quote from his speech which really resonated with me was "There is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute centre of”, this made me think really hard about a memory where I was no in the centre of the entire experience. Moreover, this highlights his point that as individuals we are too self-centred, we only worry about our interest and not that of others. Furthermore, Wallace highlighted this point through the use of an example later on, where he explained the emotions one feels stuck in traffic, the feeling of annoyance and irritability. However, on that same road are people who are driving an SUV as they have been in an accident before and the size of the SUV makes them feel safe, whilst there are others stuck in the same traffic jam, as their child has been admitted into hospital. Wallace aims to imply that through literary fiction, we interact whilst reading with so many different protagonists, that we are then enabled to put ourself in a similar situation. Moreover, Wallace’s speech on our self-centredness and the importance of literary fiction draws parallels to Alice Munro’s writing. Through her stories she aims at portraying to the reader, the difficulties and struggles various protagonists face in overcoming stereotypes associated with them. it is no coincidence that Alice Munro writes her stories in such a manner, she uses her setting as well as other factors to help the reader identify with the protagonist and thus is allowed to communicate with the protagonist on an emotional level. The manner in which each protagonist struggles allows each of us to immerse ourselves in their situations which thus causes us to develop our emotional intelligence and empathy.