Journal 1
If I could invite David Foster Wallace into the discussion in our classroom, I would ask him about his perceived timeline of human desensitization to the pain and suffering of other living things. Parents and social scientists alike argue that the introduction of violent video games to children of a young age desensitizes them to the pain and suffering of others. But people have been ruthless to one another and other living things since long before the introduction of such games. Wallace mentions several times throughout his essay the fact that people will argue that lobsters cannot feel pain when they’re essentially boiled to death. When did the human race decide that our desire outweighs the pain and suffering of a species we have deemed to be less than us? When did that pain and suffering stop disgusting us?
Journal 16
Upon reconsideration of David Foster Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster” I find that nearly all of my opinions have stayed the same since my first read through the paper. I believe that lobsters deserve better treatment than being boiled alive to be eaten by us at our convenience. Humans do not have the right to “play God” and decide what can feel pain and what deserves life or death in such a hurtful way. I understand that animals, including humans, need meat to survive, but there are much less destructive ways to get what we need from the world around us. It is more obvious to me now why Mainers are famous for the delicious creature and why it would be so difficult to break the tradition, but sometimes change is uncomfortable but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t take place. I think the line is still blurred between what crosses the line for human consumption and what is okay.
