Snake by DH Lawrence
In Snake, Lawrence tells of a confrontation with a snake he had at his water trough. This poem is actually based on an incident that occurred to him and obviously reflects his feelings and emotions.
Lawrence was honored by the snakes presence, but was also afraid. “If you were not afraid, you would kill him”, he said to himself. He simply waits for the snake to finish drinking its water, and then throws a log at it to scare it away. After doing so he immediately regrets doing it because he missed a chance with one of the “lords of life.” Throughout the poem Lawrence illustrates his point about strife and the clash of opposites. Education and social conventions make
Lawrence think that the poisonous snake must be killed, and that a brave man should undertake the task. For a brief moment Lawrence lacked the faith of his own intuition and missed his chance with one of the lords of life. (Internet, 3) He compares the snake to domesticated farm animals and to a human by referring to the snake as “someone” and describing “him” as amusing. Lawrence compares the snake to a god, a king, and a lord of life. It almost seems as he feels the snake is above him. The snake is the first one on the scene, and the first to leave. Lawrence wonders why “petty” mankind always tries to rob the dignity from all Godly creatures
(Masterplots, 1930).
Some religious themes could be drawn from the poem as well.
There was a snake in the Garden of Eden. Lawrence is drawn by the snake, just as Eve was in the Bible. He is in complete awe of it, and can not decide to turn away from it or get a chance to understand it.
Lawrence’s act of scaring it away could illustrate an attempt to draw closer to God. His inner feelings are fear of the snake “And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid, But even so, honoured still more.” His
Garden was both honored and violated by the snake (Masterplots,
1931). This poem, along with others, convey his inner feelings and conflicts. He is confused on how he should feel about the snake. He is torn between what he thinks society would have him do, and what would be morally right. He has been taught that a snake is something
When I was little, I used to stay up late at night, watching old movies with my father. He worked at night, so on his nights off, he often could not sleep. Our dad-daughter bond was, no doubt, forged by our love of old black and white and even cheesy films. It was on one of those late nights that I first saw a huge snake coiled next to a tree, draped in a glittery sheep’s fur. I am sure that my eyes were big in awe the whole time, for to this day, when I watch or even read mythological stories, I feel the same childhood awe.
Ménez, Andre’. The Subtle Beast: Snakes, from Myth to Medicine. New York, New York: CRC Press, 2003.
The effect the reader perceives in the passage of Rattler is attained from the usage of the author¡¯s imagery. The author describes the pre-action of the battle between the man and the snake as a ¡°furious signal, quite sportingly warning [the man] that [he] had made an unprovoked attack, attempted to take [the snake¡¯s] life... ¡± The warning signal is portrayed in order to reveal the significance of both the man¡¯s and the snake¡¯s value of life. The author sets an image of how one of their lives must end in order to keep the world in peace. In addition, the author describes how ¡°there was blood in [snake¡¯s] mouth and poison dripping from his fangs; it was all a nasty sight, pitiful now that it was done.¡± This bloody image of snake¡¯s impending death shows the significance of the man¡¯s acceptance toward the snake. In a sense, the reader can interpret the man¡¯s sympathy toward the snake because of the possibility that he should have let him go instead of killing him.
Another sign that upholds the fact that the traveler is the devil is the staff that he carries. It bears "the likeness of a great black snake" and it seems at times to move "like a living serpent" (Hawthorne 384). Ever since the beginning of time, serpents have been an accepted symbol of evil. In the Garden of Eden, Eve was tempted by the devil in the form of a snake; and when she gave into the temptation, she caused all of humanity to fall into the bondage of sin. In the same way, the fellow-traveler tempts Goodman Brown by constantly persuading him onward into the forest, which in turn would crush his Faith.
Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” is about the empowerment of Delia, the main character, as she tries to find herself and overcome her husband’s abusive strong hold. Throughout the story snakes are fervently discussed symbolizing evil and malevolence. Delia is petrified of snakes and her husband uses this to his advantage. Thus the snake in “Sweat” makes biblical references to The Garden of Eden and the Forbidden Fruit and the evil that can be so tempting. Just as Sykes uses the snake in “Sweat” to scare Delia and become powerful, in some way, Satan entered into the body of the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve.The serpent was the instrument the Devil used to do his bidding. At first Delia loathes the idea of even being in the same room
Kimbrough, David L. Taking up Serpents: Snake Handlers of Eastern Kentucky. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1995. Print.
The creation story in Genesis refers to a serpent classically interpreted as an evil entity. If we consider God’s warning that eating fruit from a certain tree would result in death the same day and that the record indicates that the only two humans on the planet did not, we must reconsider the role of the serpent and reevaluate the roles of good and evil and how they apply to ...
Beginning in residential school, Painted Tongue is called heathen by a religious school teacher, and after a while, he starts to question if maybe he is a heathen (Boyden 72-73). Boyden is illustrating the relationship between colonizer and colonized, with a repression of one’s spiritually by the preaching of another’s religion. This is another example of the effects of slow violence on Painted Tongue, where small differences such as contrasting religious or spiritual faiths, become the oppression of the minority
Throughout several myths, monsters are described as many diverse creatures. At first glance, they all seem very distinctive. However, each monster is like a combination of several qualities and characteristics that are matched in different ways to form the monsters that appear in myths such as Hercules, Bellerophon, and Perseus. All monsters have very distinct looks that make them inferior to humans. Generally, they are a mixture of two or more different animals such as snakes, lions, or humans and they may have multiple heads. For example, Cerberus was a horrific three-headed dog that had the tail of a dragon and his back was covered with snakes. Several monsters have some part of them from a snake. Snakes symbolize an evil quality and that is why many monsters are forms of them. Cerberus had his whole back covered in snakes and a dragon tail. Both of these are snake-like parts that contribute to Cerberus looking terrifying. His tail is from a dragon which is very similar to a snake and his back is filled with snakes like fur. The Hydra of Lerna is also an im...
woman, and man. The serpent’s punishment was that it had to slither the rest of its life and that serpent would be inferior to mankind. The woman’s punishment entailed becoming the
Alex keeps coming back to his snake after his nights on the town, and his first
Satan explains to Eve that eating the fruit of the tree does not cause death but, better yet, gives life. He uses himself as an example, showing how he can speak now and has risen about his own king. The snake is more perfect than he, himself, ever was. Satan also says that the fruit has given his knowledge; the knowledge and perfection that comes with the fruit appeals hig...
... Nature, including human beings, is `red in tooth and claw'; we are all `killers' in one way or another. Also, the fear which inhabits both human and snake (allowing us, generally, to avoid each other), and which acts as the catalyst for this poem, also precipitates retaliation. Instinct, it seems, won't be gainsaid by morality; as in war, our confrontation with Nature has its origins in some irrational `logic' of the soul. The intangibility of fear, as expressed in the imagery of the poem, is seen by the poet to spring from the same source as the snake, namely the earth - or, rather, what the earth symbolizes, our primitive past embedded in our subconsciouness. By revealing the kinship of feelings that permeates all Nature, Judith Wright universalises the experience of this poem.
The serpent appearing to Jesus Christ is not chronicled in the Gospels. The snake symbolizes the temptation of Adam and Eve when they were in the garden and ate from the forbidden tree and the LORD responds, “he shall bruise your head.” (Genesis 3:15). During the film there were many moments when Satan was seen in among the crowds as a way of saying “Here I am, I am the cause of your destruction.” A really disturbing part was seeing Satan caress a diabolic baby in his arms, which is never mentioned in the Bible. The baby that Satan is holding embodies the relationship of Jesus Christ and God. However, Satan is trying to show Jesus Christ that he would of never abandoned his child, another way of Satan trying to get Jesus Christ to abandon his identity. Another moment in the film that is not in the Bible is the flashback that Mary Magdalene has of her being stoned and kissing the foot of Jesus Christ. In John 8:1-11, Mary Magdalene is never mentioned as being the woman caught in adultery. Yet, the reason for Mel Gibson including this scene is to demonstrate that God is the only one that can punish and forgive the sins of his children. Mary’s presence in the
Poetry is a form of written word which has experience created by sound and meaning. It integrates various elements: Imagery; a figurative language which prompts the reader as well as the listener of the poem to create mental images. Poetic choice of words; this is based on the sound that is, denotation and connotation. Denotation refers to the accurate meaning of the word while connotation refers to the intended meaning of a word. The sound is another element of poetry which about the rhyme; words that sound similar or exactly alike in the poem. It employs metaphor which expresses something new and meaning way by way of comparison on unlike things. The theme as the main element is the purpose of the poem. Poetry is tied as an art because of