Topic > Analysis of the persuasive techniques used by David Foster Wallace in Consider The Lobster

In David Foster Wallace's article, "Consider the Lobster", he convinces the audience that cooking lobster and eating it is cruel and that it is wrong to eat lobster 'lobster "alive for our gustatory pleasure." Wallace applies thought-provoking information that shows whether it is right or wrong to boil lobsters “for our gustatory pleasure.” Wallace details the various ways in which lobsters are cruelly prepared. It also provides readers with outside resources and calls attention to the MFL and how they mention that lobsters have no pain, "no brain, no cerebral cortex, which in humans is the area of ​​the brain that gives the experience of pain" . ,” but Wallace claims he is “wrong.” He supports this case with multiple additional arguments. Although Wallace's article describes a controversial view, it may persuade the public to think about the morality of boiling live lobsters for food consumption. Wallace relies on descriptive facts and details, pathos, logical reasoning, praising his vision of lobsters to an audience of Maine Lobster Festival attendees, foodies, chefs, and those opposed to animal cruelty and by the public. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Wallace uses an immensity of detail to show the concerns of pain in lobsters and how unnecessary the deaths are, particularly at the Maine lobster festival, even providing factual support for his thesis. Wallace describes how lobsters are prepared at the main lobster event and in his own kitchen. Wallace goes into detail explaining the environment surrounding the Maine lobster festival to convey the idea that people are oblivious to the slaughter of thousands of lobsters right next to them. When it comes to cooking at home, Wallace describes "the lobster will try to cling to the container or even hook its claws... like a person trying to keep from falling over the edge of a roof." states bluntly how lobsters behave just as any suffering human would. To demonstrate that lobsters feel pain, Wallace includes sources that confirm lobsters' pain. In his article he corrects sources that said lobsters don't feel pain when they do, allowing his article to be more credible and thus making the public truly appreciate his knowledge about lobsters. To further reinforce his point, Wallace points out that when a lobster rasps, this shows an important indicator of suffering, concluding that lobsters actually feel pain. According to a US News article, “Some say the hissing sound you hear when crustaceans hit boiling water is a scream (it's not; they don't have vocal cords).” This leads to the assumption that consumers think lobsters might feel pain when they enter boiling water, but perhaps we don't care enough or like the flavor too much to care. Additionally, Wallace creates appeal to pathos and connects to the readers' emotions. Comparing the Maine Lobster Festival to the Nebraska Beef Festival makes the public feel guilty. Wallace states, “what part of the celebration is watching the trucks pull up and the live cattle being taken down the ramp and slaughtered right there…” Most of the time people will feel grief for the cattle, but what about the 'lobster? Wallace applies the context of cattle and how one feels bad for them but not for lobsters, which is also tied to hypocrisy. He outlines it to accurately show the hypocrisy.