Summary: The Vegetarian Myth

The Vegetarian Myth: A Stylistic Analysis
The Vegetarian Myth, written by author Lierre Keith, tackles the ever-heated question: To eat animal products or not to eat animal products? I add the word “products,” after animal because the book should more properly be called the vegan myth. As a former vegan of over twenty years Keith comes from a place of experience, or as she might have it, a bitter experience. Feeling betrayed, in denial, and physically ill from her vegan years, she has made it her goal to reveal the truth and put to rest the Vegetarian notion that abstaining from animal products is the righteous path that is morally correct, will feed the hungry, and lead to greater nutrition. Chapter one, titled “Why This Book” will be the focus of this analysis because it gives an appropriate introduction to Keith’s
It’s who you are, and it’s a totalizing identity.” Saying “a vegetarian is who you are”, is a metaphor. This metaphor targets a narrow vegetarian/vegan audience and pushes her deeply into the cultural arena. This is strengthened by the fact that she used to be a vegan. Because she knows the vegetarian/vegan crowd so well, this may also be a subtle cultural norm within that group, which would further deepen it’s meaning. Keith leaves us by clarifying the loose ends of the footing. She writes, “I have done my best to avoid a tone of moral superiority and aim for engagement. I hope I have succeeded. Ultimately I would rather be helpful than right.” This is a major final breakthrough between her and the audience. Throughout the chapter, her rage and sarcasm can be mistakenly directed at the audience; or rather the audience does not feel excluded from it. These words in the last paragraph reduce most, if any, residual footing between Keith and the reader and puts them on friendly terms: a very important factor when persuading an