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Consider The Lobster By David Foster Wallace Summary

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Are We Really What We Eat? An Analysis of “Consider the Lobster” In David Foster Wallace’s essay “Consider the Lobster” he argues that we as a human race should be empathetic to what we eat and close the gap between animal rights activists and gourmet food lovers in which he does so very effectively. The largest point of David’s argument is the issue of morality, this is a strategic move on his end because as human beings we are all concerned with how we are perceived by society and focus our lives and actions around the concept of conforming to societal norms. His strong stance against such large consumption of lobster pushes the reader to believe that his viewpoints are more than just about lobster. He wants the reader to understand that what is accepted by society is not what’s always morally right. …show more content…

The festival needs little to no explanation. People from numerous different areas gather to indulge in immense amounts of lobsters. While Wallace finds no issue with this part of the festivities he finds the need for concern when a cook arrives and literally boils lobsters alive in front of everyone within the audience. It’s easy to ignore because it’s only lobster, right? Wallace even says what lobsters are by definition.
“A crustacean is an aquatic arthropod of the class Crustacea, which comprises crabs, shrimp, barnacles, lobsters, and freshwater crayfish. The point is that lobsters are basically giant sea insects…not nice to look at. They’ll eat some live shellfish, certain kinds of injured fish, and sometimes one another.” (Wallace

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