Consider The Lobster

David Foster Wallace’s style is pivotal toward understanding a complex and at times jumbled text. “Consider the Lobster” contains several footnotes, a text feature commonly employed by Wallace, which complicate and expand his argument. These footnotes offer exposition such as why he was speaking to a rental car liaison, clarify details such as the nature of the debate between human and animal life versus culinary taste and animal life, and give tangential thoughts such as what it means to be a tourist in America. These footnotes inform the reader’s understanding of Wallace’s argument, which is notable for lacking a central claim or thesis; rather, Wallace raises questions for the reader to consider.

Wallace departs from a typical argumentative structure, but shows a deep understanding of his subject. For Wallace, style is a central function of the essay. Lacking a clear moral message for the reader, Wallace relies on discursiveness to explore the complications of killing, animal rights, sentience, feeling, culture, and perception. All of these issues arise out of Wallace’s central message of the essay which is, as the title makes clear, to consider the