Structure

Jonathan Safran Foer writes his book “Eating Animals” in the first-person omniscient perspective. Jonathan directly references himself in his writing, and recounts personal experiences that both led to the writing of the book – his son asking why people eat animals – and his actual writing of the book – such as his sneaking into a chicken factory farm and visiting Paradise Locker Meats. Foer uses the first-person narrative mode as a way to directly appeal to readers, often breaking the fourth wall to personally address readers. For example, in the chapter “Storytelling,” Foer directly asks the reader how much animal suffering and savagery it would take for the reader to no longer overlook such things. Foer also includes chapters that are wholly composed of brief essays penned by people like a factory farm worker, a PETA founder, and farmers like Bill and Nicolette Niman, so that they may personally...