Is The Purpose Of Let Them Eat Dog By Jonathan Safran Foer

If you traveled to another country where the main course was a cocker spaniel, would you be so inclined as to try the meal; if so, would you then be comfortable admitting it was enjoyable? Most Americans would answer no, and with an astounded look on their face for such a crude question being asked. Author Jonathan Safran Foer pushed his audience’s emotional boundaries by proposing the idea that we do just that; eat our precious dogs. His argument within the article “Let Them Eat Dog: A Modest Proposal for Tossing Fido in the Oven” proves strong with what seems to be an unbiased, logical, and tryingly reasonable argument! Throughout this paper is a close analysis of Mr. Foer’s true argument, his tactics, and his personal style of writing.

He goes on to compare the intelligence of a pig (an animal we often use for breakfast bacon) to that of a dog. Both run and play fetch, both are capable of showing affection, so he asks, why do we choose to kill one animal and re-home another? Foer makes great points as to why we should consider eating dogs. He even adds in examples of great dog eaters in history like Hippocrates and Captain Cook to sway our judgement, however later into the article, Foer’s actual argument is revealed. He goes on to make certain points that may appear contradicting to his ever so clear article title. Points are made about the meat industry being the number one cause of global warming and how they’ve aided in the development and spread of diseases such as swine and avian flues. This then leads to his statement that many of these animals involved in factory farming endure extreme levels of abuse and cruelty, and that most Americans would be baffled at the sight of such acts towards

This particular tactic is targeted towards those who rely on facts, statistics, and strongly supported citations when reading material. Constructing logical arguments and citing an additional source when attempting to use this technique is key; as Foer does when he states that although the text was written for a different purpose, George Orwell’s words (from Animal Farm) apply to his true point entirely: “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” (page 1) By quoting other reading material he’s strengthening his argument in the sense that other well known writers have somewhat the same ideas about the way animals are treated in our society. He goes on to do this again, however in his counter argument (which if not analyzed closely may seem like most if not all of his article and thesis) he lists out many greatly known people in history who were notorious dog eaters like I mentioned above. As well as adding in plenty of information about cultural differences between the United States and multiple countries around the world such as China, India, Nigeria and many more that don’t see eating dogs as taboo much like we often