Consider “Consider the Lobster”

The first ever exposure I had to David Foster Wallace was the movie from 2015 called “The End of the Tour”, with Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenburg. I had no prior knowledge or background on who Wallace was, but it made me realize he was someone important and influential in the writing world. That being said, after reading “Consider the Lobster”, my suspicions were confirmed. I had such a good time reading this piece. I thought it was funny, satirical, dry, and most of all, informative. I think Wallace’s tone was unlike any author I’ve read thus far. It started out as a review of the Maine Lobster Festival, but turned into an ethical and philosophical discussion about the treatment and captivation of lobsters for the food industry. He makes the readers actually think about where their seafood is coming from and the way that it is transferred from ocean to dinner plate. I think a lot of the time, writers tend to be more descriptive and factual about these subjects than moral and ethical. He wants his readers to be aware of what they are contributing to, and how they can potentially fix it. There’s a certain lens he uses to make things apparent to his audience, one that could potentially make anyone uncomfortable, no matter how ethically sound they think themselves to be. It’s difficult. People like to say that they only eat “cage free” and “Non-GMO”, but no one really knows where their favorite foods come from. Having worked for a food magazine and going behind the scenes of chef’s processes of harvesting and cooking, I saw that there were many unavoidable truths of the food industry. In many environments, animals and their pain is often on the back burner of many people’s minds. I feel like there is an expectation out there for everyone to be conscious enough to buy the best products from the best resources. But that’s not always doable, sometimes more expensive and strenuous on the consumer. I think Wallace is just presenting the idea of thinking about our food differently, especially the animals we use to obtain that food. “Can they fell pain?”, is an excellent question in this article. The follow up is even better. “Yes, and we have to take responsibility for their pain.” I think that is statement is so chilling. Truly, the responsibility is ours. Human beings take so many animals and plants for granted just for our benefit. Maybe in the future, we can consider more than just the lobster.