Analysis Of David Foster Wallace's 'Consider The Lobster'

Often times, many forget to be kind to one another. When we are performing out our daily activities we forget to think about other people. Individuals can be naturally selfish or self- centered. There are multiple obstacles working against our being kind to one another. Our own success being one of them. We must remember to put ourselves in the shoes of the other person, in order to understand the issues in front of us. It is not easy to become detached ourselves from how we usually are nor how we are born, but it is imperative that we try to ensure a brighter future.

In his article “Consider the Lobster”, David Foster Wallace uses the Maine Lobster Festival as a medium for his argument regarding the ethics of eating lobster. Wallace frames his article as a conversation just to get people thinking, but a deeper look at his rhetoric shows that he is arguing against the inhumanities of eating lobster, while doing everything he can to avoid sounding like he is taking a stance.

The hotel is a place away from home where we can spend time relaxing and take a break from our usual lives. Such an environment is unique and distinctive from one at home for most and is described by Jennifer M Volland as a place where, “an individual's inner and outer lives [can] collide head-on.” (Volland 16). This conflict between our inner and outer personalities is dubbed by Carl Jung as, “the persona...and, the shadow” (Volland 15), which are usually kept in, “separate drawers and are never confronted with one another” (Volland 15). Only in the hotel are these personalities allowed to integrate which can lead us to, “better ourselves, to try on new identities, to partake in the unthinkable, to tap into the unconscious.” (Volland 16). Such is the case for David Foster Wallace, in his essay, “Shipping Out”, where he attends a luxury cruise vacation and documents his experience aboard the ship. Throughout the essay, we are able to bear witness to Wallace’s persona that he displays to other passengers and how his inner shadow is then manifests itself and hijacks his experience aboard the cruise. The cruise ship itself is by no means free of blame here as it facilitates the mixing of the shadow and persona as it encourages passengers to bring it out and feeds their inner desires whatever they may be. Through both Jung’s idea of the persona and shadow and Volland’s idea that hotels tap into the subconscious; we are able to understand how the vacation influences both these

As much as humans don’t want to admit it, the world wasn’t solely created for us. The novel, Ishmael, written by Daniel Quinn has given us an insight on how the world has been treated by man and how it could end. In a time where the world is being destroyed we need to step up and protect the earth from total destruction.

According to Scruton, “Eating animals has become a test case for moral theory in Western societies,” and he believes that a moral life is set on three pillars: virtue, duty, value piety. Foer uses fishes and dogs, for example, in Eating Animals: people slam gaffs into fish, but no one in their right mind would do such a thing to a dog. Foer also mentions that fish are out there in the water doing what fish do, and dogs are with us. Dogs are our companions, and with that, we care about the things that are near and dear to us. In, “Consider the Lobster,” Wallace asks, “Is it all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure?” Is it a personal choice to do so? PETA, of course, says no. Dick from the Maine Lobster Festival (MLF) argues that lobsters do not have the part of the brain that receives pain, which is a false statement anyhow. Goodrich (1969) says that a human’s life is worth so much more than an animal’s life. No matter how many animals there are, one human life is worth more.

American Novelist, essayist and short story author David Foster Wallace uses his essay “Consider the Lobster” to tell the reader about his thought provoking visit to the Maine Lobster Festival. Wallace wrote this essay to show his thought process dealing with the moral ambiguity of cooking lobster, and the research he did to further understand the subject. He primarily uses an informational tone with a heavy emphasis on pathos. He does a fairly good job remaining unbiased and showing the counterarguments.

Big Fish Essay Daniel Wallace’s Big Fish is full of difficult topics, including loss of a family member or loved one. Edward’s death hits his family hard, but not in the way one might expect, seeing as they rarely see him. Though everyone has coping mechanisms to deal with death, William’s is unusual. William only understands his father through the stories he tells, so when Edward dies, William remembers him through his stories.

The gluttonous lords of the land capture those who are unable to defend themselves, boil the captives alive, and then feast on their flesh. Could this be the plot of some new summer blockbuster? It could be, in fact, but for now we will focus on how this depiction of events compares to David Foster Wallace’s essay, “Consider the Lobster,” which starts as a review of the Maine Lobster Festival, but soon morphs into an indictment of not only the conventions of lobster preparation, but also the entire idea of having an animal killed for one’s own consumption. Wallace shows great skill in establishing ethos. In the essay, he succeeds in snaring a receptive audience by laying out a well-baited trap for an

In “Consider the Lobster,” by Davide Foster Wallace, Wallace argues that preference is defined as something personal that relates to suffering. He presents the idea that preferences are not enough to make moral decisions. The author begins this essay by describing the Maine Lobster Festival and all its festivities, followed by what a lobster is and its anatomy, and concludes with whether or not they feel pain through their suffering. Wallace does this to convey the message that lobsters are living creatures who do in fact have a preference. If something feels pain, it has a preference, and this something that lobsters have. Preference varies between every living creature, and no single creature could feel the pain or know preference another feels or has. An example provided in the text is when a worm is cut in two, after they are sliced, their haves carry on; we see no sign of pain but have no idea as to whether the worm would have preferred to remain in tact, rather than in two. When it comes to lobsters however, we do study signs of preference, for example they hook their claws to the rims of a

In the essay Consider The Lobster, by David Foster Wallace. The purpose of the essay is to inform the reader about the annual lobster fest in the state of Main. The writer provides an overview of the lobster fest in detail. Furthermore, the writer adds in the history of the lobster; to help enlighten the readers’ knowledge about the creature and the local community. The writer does give his outline of this the special occasion, while also providing his references to his own experience in summer of 2003.

  The suffering of animals is not important to gourmets what ethical convictions do they evolve that allows them to enjoy and savor flesh-based

In today’s era, people are growing more and more conscious of animal rights and the humane treatment of them. People tend to think of the usual cows, pigs, sheeps, etc., when they think of the fair treatment of animals, often overlooking that of crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs. Thousands of lobster are fished or farmed for the enjoyment of a rare, tasty dinner. David Foster Wallace presents his readers in his piece, “Consider the Lobster”, with the argument that animal suffering is a complicated and uncomfortable matter. As humans, we are not able to feel what other animals feel, but the most we can know about it comes from research and analysis. While some behaviorist philosophers and other researchers claim lobsters do not feel

Most people don’t think twice about the fact that a lobster should be alive when they boil it. Because of this, Wallace prompts the reader to question whether it is morally right to boil a creature while it is still living simply for his or her own pleasure. Although the famous animal protection group, PETA, boycotts the cooking of lobster, many people believe that lobsters do not possess the part of the brain that can process pain. Wallace counters these beliefs with facts showing that, although finding the specific thought process of the creature requires complicated analyzing, a pot of boiling water is most certainly not a place where a lobster would want to go. Most lobster eaters prefer to abstain from thinking about such things. Continuing, Wallace admits that he himself believes animals are less important than humans and it is that way for selfish reasons. Wallace concludes by prompting the reader to ponder on the subject of the morality of eating other animals and whether or not it is something they should continue

In “Consider the Lobster,” Wallace talks about the ethical side of cooking lobsters alive. He starts his passage by talking about the Maine Lobster Festival where people are consuming a lot each year. After pointing out that lobsters are basically giant sea insects, he goes on and explains the history of lobsters. Then the focus of the passage shifts to the discussion of morality behind consuming lobsters. Wallace goes on views both side of the debate on whether eating lobsters is ethical. In the passage, he discusses how it is ethical because lobsters do not feel pain because they don’t have cerebral cortex. And he debunks the fact by discussing an experiment that lobsters attempt to escape the boiling water. Then he goes on and continues

Throughout the course of David Foster Wallace’s essay, Consider the Lobster, he uses many different methods to try and convince his audience in fact it is seemingly inhumane to boil lobsters. Wallace proves to the reader that the proponents of the Maine Lobster Festival, home of the World’s Largest Lobster Cooker, support their style of killing the lobster by falsely arguing that lobsters do not feel pain, when in fact they do. By examining the essay, it is apparent that Wallace is writing to more than one audience. One audience that he is writing to is the readers of Gourmet, the magazine that this essay was published in. However, it is important to note that this essay is also being written to those people who would not have read the magazine otherwise, that is the people that who are purely reading this article because it was written by Wallace. Because there is such a broad audience, it is nearly impossible for every piece of evidence given to effect each read the same way. Below I will examine a piece of evidence that appeals to only one audience, as well as evidence that does in fact appeal to both.