Marrakech Moskowitz Questions: Moskowitz Opens

Marrakech

Moskowitz questions: Moskowitz opens her review by discussing her life as a restaurant critic. What is her purpose in doing so?

Moskowitz wants the reader to understand that her life is not as glamorous as people often assume, and to convey the fact that she does try to be an objective and unbiased journalist. She wants people to know that she does hide her identity to avoid special treatment and thus she is often served bad food. Her experience, she believes, does approximate that of an average diner's in a restaurant.

The service at this restaurant is clearly a disappointment to Moskowitz. What does it take to be a good server? In your experience, why does service sometimes break down?

A good server communicates with the customer -- for example, he or she should ask what the customer's preferences are, in terms of food, and make sure the food arrives on time, and in optimal condition. He or she should have a good memory for things like a request for more water. The server should be flexible and not simply stick to a script like 'always ask if they want more bread,' even if the bread basket is full. Service breaks down because of a breakdown of communication -- the server is distracted by other things (like other customers, too much of a focus on one aspect of service like speed or pushing 'specials') or because the customer is too intent upon pushing his own agenda on the server, like impressing a date, getting a free meal, or tailoring the food to certain specifications.

According to Moskowitz, she could have "in good conscience, sent back three out of four dishes that arrived from the Mpls. Cafe kitchen." If she's disappointed in the food, why doesn't she send it back to the kitchen? Under what circumstances would you ask a server to return your meal?

Part of being a restaurant critic is evaluating the food 'as is' -- she is trying to replicate the experience of an ordinary diner, which means no substitutions, and no 'editing' of the dish. I would send food back if it was not what I ordered, was poorly prepared, or of extremely poor quality.

Although this is an unusually negative review, Moskowitz does find some things to praise. What does she achieve by reporting that the restaurant in question had a good wine list and good desserts?

She shows that she does not have a particular 'axe' to grind regarding this establishment -- she does not have a particular vendetta against this type of restaurant or cuisine.

How would you describe the tone of this review? Does it seem appropriate under the circumstances?

Bemused -- Moskowitz was not treated especially rudely, and even though the experience was poor, she does not seem to try to exaggerate her responses. Her recounting of the odd names of the dishes seems factual, the bad behavior of the server seems believable, and she does not say that every bite was utterly hideous.

Orwell: What is Orwell implying when he writes in paragraph 8 "the man is an employee of the municipality?"

Despite the fact that the man has a supposedly good job, he is so poor he must beg for bread.

What does Orwell accomplish by exploring aspects of Marrakesh overlooked by the average tourist?

Orwell shows a seamier side of life -- he shows the poverty and the diversity of the land, and the different types of exploitation that occur

In paragraph 17, Orwell writes that "all people who work with their hands are partially invisible? Why are the laborers of Marrakesh "partly invisible"? Are they overlooked by some but not by others? Are there partly invisible people in the U.S. today?

The people who work with their hands in Marrakesh are partly invisible because tourists do not want to see them because it will spoil their fun and also because the class system is taken for granted by residents of the city. In the U.S., homeless people are often overlooked because their presence challenges the notion that America is a classless society, where everyone can succeed. Illegal immigrants are also ignored, because many people want to use their labor but no one likes to admit that both the individual's employer and also the person who accepts the service of landscaping or a meal at a restaurant is complicit in an illegal activity.