Davis Post 3 (Week 4)

The most significant definition given by Safran Foer in chapter 3 of Eating Animals, "Words/Meaning," is of the word "suffering," provided as a closing statement on the last page. "Suffering" is introduced to the reader as what is being referred to in the food production industry as "stress," causing Safran Foer to then question what the defining characteristics of suffering are, or if it's even possible to distinguish them: "what is suffering?" This proposition acts as a summary of the thesis driving the entire first third of Eating Animals; before attempting to inspire any sort of "call to action" in the reader, Safran Foer recognizes the need to convince readers to challenge widely held beliefs regarding an animal's inability to perceive suffering on a level comparative to human experience. This is well supported by the chapter's final sentence: "the world defines our gaze even more than what we are looking at," emphasizing the consequences and considerations that must be realized when attempting to define as drastic as "suffering," its horrible implications are far too vast for one word to properly articulate.