Consider the lobster is a philosophical commentary on the ethics of preparing and eating lobster using surprising juxtapositions of ideas that lead to fresh insight. Wallace writes a philosophical commentary on the ethics of preparing and eating lobster. By asking questions, Wallace is getting into the morals of eating lobster. Because sometimes “there is no honest way to avoid certain moral questions” (Wallace 10), questions like, “is it all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure?” (7) and “is the whole things just a matter of personal choice?” ( 7). Questions make the reader step back, and analyze or reevaluate their life. These questions focus the reader on thinking of their morals, which could be why …show more content…
There are a lot of adjective Wallace could have chosen, but he chooses “gustatory” (7) for a reason. That word focuses on a very small part of all pleasures, and in turn belittling that pleasure entirely. Wallace discusses what it takes to cook a lobster, and whether it’s a humane way to prepare or not. He points out that there are many ways, “drive a sharp heavy knife point-first” (12), “slow heating methods” (13), and “microwav[ing] them alive” (13) yet the most common method for preparing lobster to for the lobster to be “boiled alive” (10). On comparing the knife method and the boiling method, “[it] is said at least eliminate some of the cowardice involved in throwing a creature into a boiling water and fleeing the room” (12). The word “cowardice” (12) is used to emphasise that …show more content…
Wallace uses the contrast of the names of our meat to question our morals: “is it significant that “lobster,” “fish,” and “chicken” are our culture's words for both the animal and the meat, whereas most mammals seem to require euphemisms like “beef” and “pork” that help us separate the meat we eat” (11). Wallace compares two things from the everyday language and focuses the reader to question their ethics. It’s not a news that beef comes from cows and fish come from fish, it’s the insight and this new thought that makes the reader want to keep reading. Makes the reader want to see if there are any other old concepts that can be brought into a new light. And there is, it’s the experience of what the lobster go through while being boiled alive of “hear[ing] the cover rattling and clanking as the lobster tries to push [the cover of the pot] off” (11) for the lobster “behaves very much as you or I would behave if we were plunged into boiling water” (11). Wallace is giving us the same experience the lobster is going through, and it’s asking how us the reader would like
In the narrative “Food Is Good” author Anthony Bourdain humorously details the beginning of his journey with food. Bourdain uses lively dialogue with an acerbic style that sets his writing apart from the norm. His story began during his childhood and told of the memories that reverberated into his adulthood, and consequently changed his life forever. Bourdain begins by detailing his first epiphany with food while on a cruise ship traveling to France. His first food experience was with Vichyssoise, a soup served cold.
As “Consider the Lobster” investigates the ethics of how one cooks lobster, it employs pathos while explaining the actions and reciprocations of cooking a lobster. As Wallace addresses the steps in which one cooks
The documentary Blackfish directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, leaves the viewer with many different emotions. This documentary follows the life of Tilikum, a captured killer whale who is forced to preform for SeaLand. The director uses different interviews from people who have worked with Tilikum or have seen him attack people during the shows. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has said that swimming with and training killer whales is not safe at all and should not be done. They believe it is a very high risk to the human working with the whale.
The lobsters are complex creatures, as David Foster Wallace explains in the essay, and the people that are going to the festival are making this complex creature so easy to kill. Wallace is able to validate this argument by using their complexity of life and the simplicity of their death to show the paradox that the festival has created explaining, “Taxonomically speaking, a lobster is a marine crustacean of the family Homaridae, characterized by five pairs of jointed legs, the first pair terminating in large pincerish claws used for subduing prey” (Wallace 55). Then later explaining, “Be apprised, though, that the Main Eating Tent’s suppers come in Styrofoam trays, and the soft drinks are iceless and flat” (Wallace 55). This paradox that Wallace brings to the attention to his audience show that these articulate and graceful creatures are being disgraced by the festival goers by being served on Styrofoam trays and served with unappealing beverages. It is no coincidence that two things that are really explained is the anatomy of the lobster and how complex the makeup of the lifeform is and the simplicity of the death of the lobster. By explaining these two things in depth, he is able to show how ridiculous and unfair he feels that killing and eating the lobster is. Wallace also humanizes the lobster to bring the situation into a perspective that
"Consider the Lobster" an issue of Gourmet magazine, this reviews the 2003 Maine Lobster Festival. The essay is concerned with the ethics of boiling a creature alive in order to enhance the consumer's pleasure. The author David Foster Wallace of "Consider the Lobster” was an award-winning American novelist. Wallace wrote "Consider the Lobster” but not for the intended audience of gourmet readers .The purpose of the article to informal reader of the good thing Maine Lobster Festival had to offer. However, he turn it into question moral aspects of boiling lobsters.
Jan de Heem painting, “Still Life with Lobster” is an oil painting with a bright red lobster that catches the viewer gaze into this beautiful dinner from the late 1640s.The color scheme used in this painting is analogous since it uses relatively close hues. In the painting, the lobster is on a silver platter but it has been left untouched. Surrounding the focal point of the painting is luxurious fruits including grapes, cherries, peaches, berries, oranges, and a half peeled lemon. To the left of the lobster is an overturned silver goblet. This particular style of painting is known as a vanitas form of painting. The artist is using a luxurious left over meal to show even the most expensive desires of the world doesn’t last for eternity. The
The state of Maine is a huge tourist spot known for it’s rocky coastline and seafood cuisine, especially lobster. Annually, the state holds the “Maine Lobster Festival” every summer, and is a popular lucrative attraction including carnival rides and food booths. The center of attention for this festival is, unsurprisingly, lobster. The author of the article “Consider the Lobster”, David Foster Wallace, mainly uses logos and pathos, and explores the idea of being put into the lobsters perspective by describing how the cooking process is done and informing us on the animal’s neurological system in a very comprehensible way. He effectively uses these persuasive devices to paint a picture for the audience and pave way for the reader to conjure
Ngo utilized definition to enhance the audience’s understanding of the existence of cannibalism to this day. By incorporating the definition, “Cannibalism, the act of eating human flesh,” Ngo shed light onto the way in which he wanted to convey his central message of cannibalism (par. 5). This gave a clear view of what he viewed as cannibalism and how he wanted others to see it, allowing for a concise portrayal of the topic. Similarly, Ngo applied definition when describing
Bell, Rachel. "Historical Perspective." All about Cannibalism: The Ancient Taboo in Modern Times. Crime Library, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
Norcross, Alastair. “Puppies, Pigs, and People: Eating Meat and Marginal Cases.” Philosophical Perspectives 18, (2004): 229-245.
...ocused around the negative manner in which people or the animals were affected with a counter of no positive results coming from the acts committed. By taking the argument as it is and applying it to an ethical theory like Utilitarianism it allows one to focus the argument in an objective manner by taking the arguments and merely weighing the consequences relative to pleasure and pain—which could be done with any film or situation of this sort. It’s important that in situations of ethical debate like the subject of The Cove that one be prepared to fully analyze the situation and make a judgment through some ethical focus. In my case, upon analyzing through the theoretical lens of Utilitarianism I found the acts of these Taiji residents to be highly unethical.
In the article by Wendell Berry titled “The Pleasures of Eating” he tries to persuade the readers of the necessity and importance of critical thinking and approach to choosing meals and owning responsibility for the quality of the food cooked. He states that people who are not conscious enough while consuming products, and those who do not connect the concept of food with agricultural products, as people whose denial or avoidance prevents them from eating healthy and natural food. Berry tries to make people think about what they eat, and how this food they eat is produced. He points to the aspects, some which may not be recognized by people, of ethical, financial and
Pollan gives another well-addressed argument to his readers concerning the gap between humans and their prey. He portrays our society as far from nature and that meat in grocery stores is made to look “as little like parts of animals as possible” (Pollan 307). To back his ideas, Pollan quotes “Why Look at Animals” by John Berger which explains how when consumers make eye contact with their prey, this builds a relationship between the two causing the predator to consume their meat without looking away (Pollan 307). This causes that person to not want to know what they are eating because people are used to not knowing what they are eating. If a non-fiction book was only filled with facts, readers would quickly lose interest and not want to read it.
The ethical system that I propose has the goal of what is ultimately good for human beings. The ultimate good of human beings lie in going beyond their individual needs because instinctually animals strive to fulfill their individual bio-organic ne...
Michael Pollan presents many convincing arguments that strengthen his position on whether slaughtering animals is ethical or not. He believes that every living being on this planet deserves an equal amount of respect regardless of it being an animal or human, after all humans are also animals. “An Animal’s place” by Michael Pollan is an opinionated piece that states his beliefs on whether animals should be slaughtered and killed to be someone’s meal or not. In his article, Pollan does not just state his opinions as a writer but also analyzes them from a reader’s point of view, thus answering any questions that the reader might raise. Although Pollan does consider killing and slaughtering of animals unethical, using environmental and ethical