In David Foster Wallace’s column about the Maine Lobster Festival, Wallace delves into the many aspects of the festival. A main topic of his is one that we have pondered: the subjectivity of space, specifically touching on the touristy aspect of the festival. While for the tourists, the festival epitomizes Maine, many residents of the area are either disinterested with the festival or even contemptuous of it. While these two groups may occupy the same space at the same time, the meanings that they themselves impress upon this space differ widely.
Another compelling topic that he talks about is about the humanity of killing a lobster, which he uses to make an interesting argument about empathy. Because the thought of boiling a live animal seems inhumane to some, many have tried to find a more “humane” way to kill the lobster. One alternative is to slit the neck, where a bundle of nerves that is like a brain resides. However, the lobster has many of these bundles throughout his body, and the slit to the neck is not always fatal. Even though these people were trying to be more “humane” about killing an animal, they end up making the death more painful. In this example, Wallace exposes the different rationalizations that allow people to continue being immoral for their own pleasure.