[C1] “Eating Jack Hooker’s Cow” by Michael Paterniti exemplifies the value of belief templates in people’s lives as described by David Foster Wallace in his speech “This is Water”. [I] According to DFW, [Q1] “…the exact same experience can mean two totally different things to two different people…two different belief templates…two different ways of constructing meaning from experience.” (David Foster Wallace). [E] DFW posits that while people can have the same experience, they will always see it differently based on how they were raised and what they take in from the world as an acceptable response. [T] This idea of different belief templates is shown in “Eating Jack Hooker’s Cow” when Paterniti details the viewpoint of Jack on Bout’s purchase of the Thunderbird and Holiday motels. [I2] Jack feels a distinct hatred for Bout and “her people” stating his dislike of how, [Q2] “They’re holding [his] money in their yellow fingers.” (Paterniti).  [Ce] While Bout takes pride in her success at the Thunderbird and Holiday, and details the fact that she had to work and sacrifice everything to get that success, Jack still harbors hatred for her because of the way his brain works. He exemplifies a stagnant belief template, feeling a disservice because he isn’t succeeding as much as Bout despite being “Pure American”, while his failure is really rooted in poor business practices and likely his racism towards potential patrons as well. Jack’s inability to shift his understanding of Bout’s work ethic to be positive shows how our upbringing and experience shape the way we view the world.

Works Cited

Foster Wallace, David. “This Is Water by David Foster Wallace (Full Transcript and Audio).” Farnam Street, 14 Jan. 2021, https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/.

Paterniti, Michael. “Eating Jack Hooker’s Cow.” Esquire, 22 Aug. 2020, https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a24131/jack-hookers-cow-1197/.