Essay 3 Draft 1

When people are born, they enter into a foreign world with a terrifying number of ideals, traditions, methods, and ways of thinking and acting. These ideals, which have formed and evolved due to thousands of years of societal evolution, are engrained within a person’s mind, integrating them into a way of thinking and living with other people. These ideas, when first introduced, are rarely questioned; things are they way they are because things have always been that way, and because of this, they are rarely questioned. However, once a certain age is reached, the conscious mind develops, and people are capable of thinking and acting for themselves, rather than the ways they are taught. This induces questioning of ideas and traditions once thought to be normal and insignificant. Upon questioning, certain ideals seem less normal then they once were. Sometimes, these ideals seem strange or pointless, while other times they may appear to be outright immoral or inhumane. This concept is explored by the American author David Foster Wallace, who explores the concept of cooking lobster in American culture. Though seemingly insignificant, Wallace explores the topic in great depth, bringing up points on the subject that are rarely questioned or even given thought. Other American authors, such as Jessica Mitford and Michael Pollan, have done something similar, questioning American ways of disposing of dead and the healthiness and ethics of the fast food industry, respectively. Though their methods differ, all these authors question ideals and traditions in American society that, although normalized, may not be as normal as previously thought. It is this questioning and investigation of seemingly normal constructs with abnormal or inhumane aspects, that bind these authors together.