Rhetorical Analysis of David Foster Wallace's 'Consider the Lobster'

I believe David Foster Wallace’s aim for writing this piece was to explain his reasoning for killing and eating animals and to understand other people’s views on the issue as well. This is apparent throughout the writing. Wallace starts out by giving his personal description of the Maine Lobster Festival. He describes how it takes place July 30th through August 3rd, thousands of people come to the festival every year, its broadcasted on live television by CNN, and about 25,000 fresh lobsters are eaten over the course of the festival. Additionally, he goes into the biology of the lobster such as the scientific name and evolution. Leading up to this, he states the question for writing this piece, “Is it alright to boil a sentient creature alive for our gustatory pleasure” (p.9 Wallace)?

This rhetorical device of ethos gives Wallace good credibility as a writer. He explains how his beliefs are not logically correct and this gives the reader a sense of credibility that Wallace is not biased. This type of rhetorical device was not used in Singer’s writing piece. I believe Singer couldn’t include this type of rhetorical device because it would have taken away the scholarly aspect of his writing. Next, Wallace asks the reader their point of view on the issue of killing lobsters. Wallace asks questions such as “Do you think much about the moral status and suffering of the animals involved?” (p.20 Wallace) and “Do you ever think idly, about the possible reasons for your reluctance to think about it?” (p.20 Wallace). These questions make the reader stop and think about their personal beliefs on the issue. Even I myself started coming up with questions whether it was morally right to kill lobsters. Furthermore, Wallace’s stylistic type of writing makes it easier for the reader to understand his point of view. I believe Wallace uses this writing style to give the reader a sense of personal connection with