Towards the beginning of this article when the author was describing the events of the Maine Lobster Festival I found myself very irritated. The author had a very pessimistic attitude and was constantly complaining about anything and everything that he could regarding the events of the festival. Personally, it was really annoying to read and if I was reading the article for pleasure than I would have seriously considered closing the book because it is not enjoyable to read something that presents such a negative attitude. However, once I moved past that section, I think that Wallace’s thoughts were very well developed and persuasive. I do not believe that boiling lobsters is morally corrupt or something to look down upon, yet I found the article is informative and mildly interesting to read. For example, I did not know that lobster was once viewed as food only for poor and prisoners. Yet somehow it made the switch so “lobster is now the seafood analog to steak” (Wallace 500). 

One line that I found particularly interesting addressed how eating lobster is an eerily personal experience. It says, “Most of us have been in supermarkets or restaurants that feature tanks of live lobsters, from which you can pick out your supper while it watches you point” (Wallace 502). I agree that is part of eating lobster feels very uncomfortable and can seem crueler than eating other animals. However I don’t think that you can condemn it an immoral act because other animals that people eat everyday are slaughtered and people do not question consuming then just because they don’t see it happen in front of them. Therefore I think it is hypocritical if people say eating lobster is wrong and then proceed to buy a hamburger for lunch.  Wallace argues that if someone did openly slaughter cattle in front of people just as they do lobsters, it would be completely unacceptable; yet people openly watch lobsters boil to death. While this is a very interesting point, I do not think that it is necessarily a fair comparison. With the boiling of a lobster there is no blood, knives, or sounds of pain which are the things that would distress people. Plus, we know that cattle experience pain, yet what lobsters can and cannot feel is very unclear. Overall, I believe that no matter what arguments one puts forth, eating lobsters or any animal is acceptable (although it would be difficult to accept people breaking our norm of abstaining from eating what we consider household animals) because I think that humans have domain over animals.