I respect Wallace’s ability to integrate research about lobsters and ethics into his essay about the festival. He combines a narrative approach with a more traditional research paper creating … hybrid. I suppose the appeal of essay is that it makes information interesting. It feels like an exploration of a topic, like you’re going on a journey with Wallace. The human desire to learn is palatable. The essay reads like a Google inquiry. You know when you’re out with your friends and someone asks a completely irrelevant question that you then proceed to ponder for the duration of your time together? A question that you must then research for no reason other than self-gratification. The organization follows train of thought, each topical jump feels organic and connected. “Consider the Lobster” is the perfect illustration of the points outlined in Paul Graham’s, “The Age of the Essay.”
“Consider the Lobster” is a true essay in that it is neither a review nor a report. Rather it is the best kind of story. A story told by an expert who can answer questions you didn’t even know you had, who adds fun tidbits of information that allows you to retain knowledge and transfer it.
At times, I was a bit disinterested. I’m not a lobster enthusiast, but Wallace did make me consider the lobster, its life, and its history, something I would have otherwise ignored. Sometimes that’s all you can hope for with an audience, that you will have captured their attention enough that they took time out of their day to read what you’ve written. Although audience should always be acknowledged when writing, in an essay it is also important that the author be passionate about what he or she is writing about. The writing shouldn’t be self indulgent, but it should be indicative of interest in the topic.
taylorosorio 