Quick Read W9 of Fisher
By using setting and comparison, Fisher is able to convey to a regular person about foods they may not understand are extreme delicacies for the time, and that it is an incredible, once in a lifetime type event. She first establishes the era and the difficulty of obtaining goods then, and further pushes that point by using wealthy elite “dreaming” about this to push the idea she wants us to understand about this moment for the students.
Fisher sets the significance of the story by first establishing the times. By stating that this was probably almost a century ago for us, us as readers are able to understand the significance of this event. If Fisher had neglected to point out the specialness, it May had seems like a different event, perhaps more of a first time food rather than an extremely rare treat many never get to enjoy.
The emphasis on how luxurious these oysters are builds up the intrigue for them. Importing any seafood alive today is still quite difficult, and very tedious, so it’s even more work back then I imagine, especially needing to maintain the climate for shellfish. Mentioning it’s somethinf that an oil-magnate dreams about makes it sound extremely expensive and rare, since that’s someone we see as elite and wealthy. Victor Hugo, most likely referring to the writer of Les Miserables, just furthers the emphasis on how on the creme de le crop of society gets this moment.
“Nothing could have been more exotic in the early twenties in Southern California. The climate was still considered tropical, so that shellfish imported alive from the East were part of an oil-magnate’s dream, or perhaps something to be served once or twice a year at Victor Hugo’s, in a private room with pink candle shade and a canary.”
M.F.K. Fisher, “The First Oyster.” The Literature of California, University of California Press (2000). Pg. 569
Fisher sets the significance of the story by first establishing the times. By stating that this was probably almost a century ago for us, us as readers are able to understand the significance of this event. If Fisher had neglected to point out the specialness, it May had seems like a different event, perhaps more of a first time food rather than an extremely rare treat many never get to enjoy.
The emphasis on how luxurious these oysters are builds up the intrigue for them. Importing any seafood alive today is still quite difficult, and very tedious, so it’s even more work back then I imagine, especially needing to maintain the climate for shellfish. Mentioning it’s somethinf that an oil-magnate dreams about makes it sound extremely expensive and rare, since that’s someone we see as elite and wealthy. Victor Hugo, most likely referring to the writer of Les Miserables, just furthers the emphasis on how on the creme de le crop of society gets this moment.
“Nothing could have been more exotic in the early twenties in Southern California. The climate was still considered tropical, so that shellfish imported alive from the East were part of an oil-magnate’s dream, or perhaps something to be served once or twice a year at Victor Hugo’s, in a private room with pink candle shade and a canary.”
M.F.K. Fisher, “The First Oyster.” The Literature of California, University of California Press (2000). Pg. 569
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