Consider the Lobster response

               David Foster Wallace’s writing about the Maine Lobster Festival entitled Consider the Lobster starts off as a lengthy description about the history of the lobster industry in New England and the festival itself, but eventually switches into an exploration of the ethics. The charge of the ethics section is much greater than the background section of his review and presents an emotional appeal that makes the readers not want to be near a room with a boiling lobster inside. The switch in his focus means that he is attempting to appeal to his intended audience in a more directed voice. His original hook in the first several pages was to catch the interest of foodies and gourmet enthusiasts who would be interested in the huge festival. He intended later to switch his tone in a manner that would not be too off topic, but rather a slight change in the discussion towards a more provocative issue in the lobster business. Wallace attempted a risky sequence of writing when he switched the focus and parts of it were not successful. For instance, I think that the change in voice was too sudden and did not parallel the rest of the article very well. Had the author written a shorter background, he could have been able to focus more on the controversial argument. His decision to include the charged argument in his article tells readers that he personally is not sure how he feels about cooking animals while they are living. He does not express this until the end of the article, but he just wants to provoke thought on the topic, he personally has not decided on an opinion. The beginning of his article does not suggest this point at all and he shares his thoughts with the connotation that he is against cooking lobster alive. A second look at this point, however, yields that he may be trying to appeal to the lesser viewed opinion among his audience. An audience of foodies is sure to have a majority of people that are perfectly fine with cooking living animals if it means a tasty meal.