Lotus Eaters Case Study

Introduction What are the damages wrought by oil spills? The answer appears painfully simple however it affirms itself through argument less than through visceral photographs: pelicans suffocating in oil, masterpieces of oil laden water, people like surgeons in gloves and masks cleaning the shorelines. We may think that, as suggested by Tatjana Soli (2010) in The Lotus Eaters, “pictures [cannot] be accessories to the story within the frame; the best picture contained a whole war within one frame.” What about those effects that cannot fit in the frame, effects that accumulate long after the initial clean-up is over, effects that corporations responsible are reluctant to pay for because they are ‘inflated losses, or losses that do not exist’? …show more content…
This spill was the largest accidental marine oil spill. A quick response ensued to protect the coastland from further damage however one of the methods to disperse the oil was Corexit. The government used Corexit as their dispersant despite its toxicity; a 2012 study reports that “Corexit used during the BP oil spill had increased the toxicity of the oil by up to 52 times” (Gulf). The worrisome ignorance of effects of the government’s decision made me interested in examining if underlying issues are stemming from corporations or the government that promote slow …show more content…
Using gas prices, sales, and station affiliations, and data on BP’s ad spending, the researchers reached a troubling conclusion: consumers did ‘punish’ BP temporarily following the spill, but that punishment was ‘significantly reduced by pre-spill exposure to BP advertising during the ‘Beyond Petroleum’ campaign years’ (Frick,