Sunday, February 2, 2014

Dinner with Trimalcheo


After reading “Dinner with Trimalcheo,” I see a resemblance between the king and slaves when it comes to our food system. Trimalcheo can be compared to our high end food companies who pretty much rule the industry. The slaves are the little guys who are under the power of those corporations and are pretty much forced to do as the companies want. The salves in this excerpt are treated kindly if they do as they are asked, but feel the wrath if they do not. Similarly, farmers feel the wrath because they have no profits or support from the government if they try to do it their own way. The power struggle between the two scenarios are parallel in nature, and prove things have not really changed in some respects.

In addition, the amount of food that is consumed at this feast is extremely decadent. It seems as though they never stop eating. Courses are endless and rich in content. Trimalcheo insists on guests drinking wine instead of water only to show off his exquisite and expensive taste. The type of food that is served is ostentatious in content and presentation. The way he presents the food that is tied to the Zodiac symbols tries to show off his knowledge and ability to have such a variety of food. All this food the guests are being exposed to seems like too much. It is more than a feast! Some people consume way too much food in the present day and age. This is another way this excerpt parallels our world. Many consume food that is lavish with fat and unhealthy for them. Similarly, in the excerpt where the guests never stop eating the exotic foods that they do not normally eat. America’s problem is they eat the fattening foods on a daily basis. You could look at it as a progression of the two. It might have started where they would eat lavishly once in a while, but now it has turned into a more common habit.

3 comments:

  1. I liked how your comparison of the slaves and Trimalcheo and present day food corporations. I think you did a good job in relating Trimalcheo's feast to the food problems of today.

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  2. I like the comparison you made with the food industry and Trimalcheo I can see the similarities for sure.

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  3. I like the way you talked about the king and slaves and how it compares to today's world. If you really think about it, it's true of how America became so obese and unhealthy.

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