The Rattler

5 Pages 1138 Words

Though most people have never experienced an actual encounter with a snake, they are given to understand that snakes are fearful creatures. We tend to believe that if we cross paths with a snake, it spells doom. We think of the fangs, the venom, and the sprightly nature of the snake as being the cause of fatalities. However, the author of “The Rattler” provides a totally different opinion of his encounter with a snake. In this case, the snake is coy and appears to be harmless; contrary to one’s expectation. The author of “The Rattler” leads the reader to believe that animals possess admirable qualities which humans can learn from; the author does this by describing the gestures, and feelings of the snake through the man’s point of view, causing the reader to compare them to those of the man.
In describing certain gestures of the snake, the author pinpoints certain qualities and traits of the creature which are unassuming ; these gestures are then contradicted by the man’s contrasting actions. One particular lack of an action comes much to the surprise of the reader’s preconceived ideas of snakes. That is, when the man approaches the snake, it’s “head was not drawn back to strike.” This detail tells the reader that the snake does not wish to harm. It is merely staying away from others, and not provoking anger or fear from anything around it. Another gesture provided by the author, is when the man returned with the hoe, the snake had not moved. This detail depicts the snake to be confident, and bold, yet in a harmless manner. Just because the much larger man spotted it, this was not going to intimidate it or scare it off. Most of the time when one sees a wild creature of any species, that creature scurries away, in an attempt to escape possible harm. But the snake in the passage showed courage and fearlessness without using any of his defensive traits. And lastly, the author writes that the snake “...