Since the beginning of history, human had always considered themselves better than other organisms on Planet Earth. This mentality can be perfectly described through the quote by George Orwell, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The conflicts existed between undomesticated animal and human, for a long time, had been a hot issue. As society progressed to a more civilized world, a debate was raised about human’s responsibility when a conflict between two parties arose. The story, The Rattler, narrated a simple encounter between an animal and a man. However, this conflict was not a peaceful one. In the story, the author used the settings and a multitude of techniques to elicit the feeling of sympathy and empathy …show more content…
toward the snake and the man. The setting was one of the crucial elements the author utilized to evoke the sympathy and empathy toward the characters. A picture of serene “... sunset…[and] the scrub’s dry savory odors...” was depicted within the first sentence of the text. This image immediately imprinted in the reader’s mind; they were immediately transported a tranquil place. The calm and clear setting instead of a more ominous and catastrophic one, not only aided the reader to imagine a peaceful place, but also helped the reader understood that by no mean, the man was under any kind of physical external pressure, he was not pressured by any primal needs. The recognition of this fact changed the perspective the reader might had assumed in the beginning about the man’s safety condition. The reader understood that the killing of the snake was not an act out of necessity but rather a completely redundant action that ended with an innocent animal’s death. This could mean a change in allegiance of the reader; from being empathy with the man to sympathy with the snake. However, that was not the goal of the author. The goal of the author was to highlight two contradicting feelings. In addition to create a non-belligerent imagination for the reader, the clear details of the area, described by the author, were used so that the reader would realize how the man’s sense of duty, psychologically, pressured him into the killing. The intentional mention “...children, dogs, horses at the ranch, as well as men and women lightly shod.” by the author, in the man’s rationale allowed the audience acknowledged that this encounter took place close to an area where the snake’s potential to kill could do some potent harm. Further, the description also pinpointed the fault in the the man’s logic reasoning for deciding to kill the snake. It was not a decision he came up with himself but rather he considered his sense of duty to the community that all men possessed. By pointed out the people, the author pointed that the man was psychologically defenceless against an internal pressure of his own moral code. The author of The Rattler, like most other story, did not put an emphasis on the setting.However, it still played a major role in fostering the feeling of empathy and sympathy toward the character by painted a tranquil picture of the setting and the man’s pressure. Empathy was one of the dominated feeling the readers felt for the man while reading The Rattler. This was created by the writer’s use of original methods. The concise and vivid image of “...a six-foot black snake thick as [the man’s] wrist, capable of long-range attack and armed with powerful fangs.” stirred up the feeling of disgust and repugnance for the audience. The horrifying illustration of the snake’s ability to kill lent a hand for the audience to understand the justification of the man’s reason. The readers deduced his fear of the snake’s ability to deliver a deathly end. The author not only describe the details of the snake’s deathly potential, he or she also utilized frankness in the description the man’s feeling and instinct as to why he was hesitated in the murder of the snake. The description of the man’s benevolent intention toward the snake, his “...first instinct...to let him go his way…” and his unfavorable view toward “the sport in taking life...” aided the audience in the process of acknowledging that the man did not want to kill. It helped them to come to their own conclusion that his violence action toward the snake was not his own feeling and willingness and that it was overcasted by logic and a sense of duty. By using this relatable technique, the author helped the audience to see themselves in the man’s shoes. They could feel the conflict between a mission of serving society and their own selfish feelings. The author also illustrated the man’s action after killing the snake solidified his image as an unwilling participant to the crime. The illustration of the man “...did not cut off the rattles for a trophy; [he] let him drop into the close green guardianship of the paper bag bush”, was unlike that of a victor. It was full of humane and full of pity feeling for the snake. Through this the audience saw the man’s raw feelings regarding the crime he just committed. The raw feeling of despairing and pity toward the snake. He was celebrating, he was silently lamenting. In no way shape or form, the man enjoyed killing this snake. To him, it was a necessary act but it was something he rather not committed. The empathy toward the man was an unavoidable feeling that all readers would eventually feel. The author just intensified the experience through description of the snake, the frankness in the man’s unwillingness and the illustration of his action after the kill. The author made use of numerous techniques to create the feeling of sympathy from the readers to the snake.
The action of the snake at the beginning of the encounter was portrayed in a calm and collective fashion. The snake “held his ground in calm watchfulness; he was not even rattling yet, much less was he coiled.” The raw and unfiltered statement of the snake action made it clear to the audience that the snake did not make the attack or even attempted to look like he was on guard. To the readers, this meant the snake was not sending an danger signal. No danger signal from the snake but a hoe was aimed at it meant that attack toward the snake was unprovoked. The realization of the fact that the snake wanted nothing to bother with this man’s life helped the readers to understand the snake’s point of view, even though limited. In addition to the intention of the snake, the details of the reactions from snake to the attack of the reader help understand the snake’s feeling and instinct at that moment. The panic of the snake by the way “he struck passionately once more at the hoe…” could be sympathized by the readers through the description of its action. The feeling of fear and survival instinct was something a lot of audience thought could only belong to human. The reader got a rude awakening with fact that this snake’s feelings of terror and its desire to live was just so similar to a human. Even though it was a creature no human can relate to, at that moment, every reader could step into its place and imagined the horror of knowing that it can die and death will come very soon. Sympathy for the snake was not an anticipated feeling and sensation for the readers. The reader expected to feel apathy or hatred toward the snake because of the negative connotation that went along with the animal. However, the empathy for the snake was introduced through the calm and collected description of the snake’s action as well as the intense desire of it to
live Even though it was only a short story consisted of simple plot, The Rattler still managed to deliver some effects to the readers, like any other powerful stories. The details of the setting were used to first introduced the readers to both of characters, the snake and the man. As the story progressed, both empathy for the man and sympathy for the snake were emphasized and strengthen through images, description and illustration. Both of the introduced views were slightly contradicting; how could the readers both feel empathy toward the man for ending the snake’s life but also sympathy for the snake for dying. This unique introduction to the fact that a human can indeed feel two emotions that are opposite made the audience to re-evaluate the judgements and values they had. Never before the readers feel sympathy for such a disgusting and unsightly animal. This made them think about the thought that every human being has about their own kind: human are better than animal. Are human really any better if human can still feel the raw emotions and instinct like what are so called “animals.”
The emotive language Lawson utilises conveys the protectiveness and fear the Drover’s wife experiences when faced with the knowledge that the snake is in the house with them. The love for the family can be seen in the text ‘The Drover’s Wife’ by Henry Lawson as the main character faces many challenges trying to keep her children
This idea is expressed prominently in John Foulcher’s For the Fire and Loch Ard Gorge. For the Fire entails a journey of someone collecting kindling as they witness a kookaburra kill a lizard, Foulcher represents his idea through the use of metaphor, “a kookaburra hacks with its axe-blade beak.” This metaphor represents the beak in weaponised form, as it is compared with a violent axe. This evokes a sense of threat and intimidation towards the kookaburra, which contrasts to societies general interpretation of the ‘laughing kookaburra,’ thereby challenging the reader's perceptions of beauty in the natural world. Also, this comparison of the kookaburra offers a second understanding for the readers to interpret of the kookaburra. Similarly, in Loch Ard Gorge, Foulcher uses strong visual imagery, “savage dark fish are tearing their prey apart, blood phrasing the water decked with light,” to communicate the violence of the ‘savage’ fish to readers in a visual, gruesome manner. Thereby evoking a feeling of disgust towards the situation, as a visual description of blood is shown and Foulcher uses provoking, gruesome adjectives to communicate the fish's brutality. Foulcher expresses these ideas to communicate the abilities of nature, and provide a necessary ‘reality check’ for the readers, to review the beauty they see nature and understand the barbarity at the heart of everything. Although ruthlessness and brutality that nature can show are unintentional and immoral, this harm is a large part of the cycle nature needs to survive and thrive, and these factors can counteract assumed beauty and
The snake’s calm demeanor when they first meet, his confidence and power, and his gruesome death help evoke sympathy in the reader. The reader’s first impression of the snake is that “he held his ground in calm watchfulness.” His stance was tense, but not threatening, as “his head was not drawn back to strike.” He does not intend to attack without being provoked; he
The comparison of the rattlesnake to a bigger, more frightening, and yet less deadly creature makes the former seem dangerous. While a blacksnake would “flee at the sight of a man”, the rattler proved its fearlessness with the way he “held his ground”. The rattler is cocky, and for good reason, because his poison could kill the man much easier than the theoretical blacksnake could. The man is in a life-threatening situation and the reader is likely to sympathize with his fear and worry. The author uses violent diction when describing the snake to make us see him as a vicious creature, in need of killing to keep others safe. Even dead, the rattler “may still bite”. He needs to be kept as far as possible from people - especially vulnerable people, such as young children - in order to protect them. The author includes this hostile wording to bring awareness to the fact that the snake is remorseless, even in death, and that taking its life is noble and just. Finally, the snake’s “little song of death” is personified negatively by the man to show that the snake is the villain in the story. Life is, according to the rattlesnake, “dear and would be dearly sold”. It comes to light in this phrase that the snake is looking for revenge from the man’s actions. The rattler is not as innocent as he may have initially seemed. As he attempts at the man’s life to bring
Beattie expresses the how the man felt about the snake and the community that he wanted to protect. In paragraph 4, “I have never killed an animal I was not obliged to kill… But I reflected that there were children, dogs, horses at the ranch, as well as men and women lightly shod; my duty…kill the snake…” Beattie is expressing the mans feelings about killing and how the mans character prevented him from killing. In addition to the mans character, Beattie adds in the factor to obtain sympathy for the man’s actions by listing all the characters that the man is protecting through his “courageous” actions. In the 7th paragraph, “I did not cut the rattles off for trophy; I let him drop into the close green companionship of the paper-bag bush…” Beattie expresses the self guilt that the man had about killing the snake to tell readers about the man’s original
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.
Hurston’s creative writing approach is the major factor to make the story more appealing and believable. The major turning point of the story occurs when Sykes died of a snake’s bite. At this point, it can be relatable that Sykes death is because of his karma. It’s the consequences of his injustice to Delia. Although Delia saw Sykes struggle and hears his scream, she sits in the shade of Chinaberry tree and waits for Sykes to die. “A surge of pity too strong to support bore her away from that eye must, could not, fail to see the tubs” (Hurston pp. 1030). Delia’s unwillingness to help Sykes is because she desperately wants to release from him. Linda Wagner- Martin stated, “Later Sykes brings a snake to the house, still trying to frighten her away from the valuable property; but the resolution of the narrative lies in the way the snake works justice upon Delia's husband”. Hurston beautifully ends up the story with the reptilian match and penalize for wrongdoing. Sykes is punished exactly what he deserves to get. It is the result of his laziness, exploitation, betrayal, and unhuman activities. Finally, the justice is given to victimized Delia, who is paid off for her loyalty and hard
The protagonist, Delia, who had been married to Sykes for fifteen years, had an extreme fear of snakes, which Sykes used as a tool to torment her and ultimately intended to use as an instrument of her death. Delia says, “You knows Ah’m even feared uh earth worms. Thass de biggest snake Ah evah did see. Kill’im
The snake was not aware of the man’s intentions was cautious but not yet preparing for an attack. The rattlesnake “lay ridged” through its mistrust of the man did not feel threatened so his “body was undulant” not preparing for an attack. Because of its natural instincts the snake was wary of the man’s presence but did not feel provoked enough to set up a defense. The usual instincts would have been to give a strong attack but choose not to do so. Still attentive to the man’s possible actions, the snake presents him with a warning for both their sake. Therefore as the man raised his weapon the snake set up its rattling and “shook his fair but furious signal” warning the man he “made an unprovoked attack”. The snake had not planned on attacking the man so instead of reacting swiftly the snake had given the man a warning. By doing so the snake shows its value of life because he left the man chance in avoiding an outcome with death for either side. Consequently having misjudged the man’s intent it is left with little time to protect itself from an unexpected attack. With the man suddenly attacking the snake with a hoe it “struck passionately” until it “was soon dead”. As a result of not being able to assemble an attack the snake is left with it’s only chance of winning by striking hard but with ineffective moves. Thus readers feel sympathy for the snake because it had not called for an attack that would have taken either
In “The Chaser” a fiction story by John Collier, Alan is deeply in love with a woman named Diana and he wants her to feel the same about him thus, he went to an old man's shop to look for a love potion. The dialogue between the old man and Alan displays love from one perspective by the old man character through the story. This led to discuss the nature of love into different perspectives.
Giving animals credit for human emotions allows us to empathize with them. The woman in “The Buffalo” longs to empathize with an animal, one who can “teach her to keep her own hatred. . . .which belonged to her by right but which she could not attain in grief” (Lispector, 1972: p. 152). As a recently devastated woman, all she wants to do is loathe the man who broke her heart, but she is unable to do so because of her undeniable love for him. She believes that an animal can best demonstrate the feeling she cannot find on her own. When she comes across the buffalo, she is finally able to understand the feeling of hatred within her, because the buffalo’s passivity reflects her subconsciously projected emotions. In doing this, she is able to empathize with the animal and learn more about herself.
Lawrence uses figurative language in order to present his ideas of societies expectations of a man. Lawrence changes the structure and style of “Snake” in order to highlight the struggles of the narrator. Specifically, when writing about the snake he uses repetitive and flowing words. He also uses traditional devices like alliteration, for example “and flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips.” The use of these technics gives the snake an almost human like feel that the reader can connect to. At the same time, Lawrence writes about the log used to hurt the snake in a different style creating such a contrast between the snake’s description and the log. The words describing the log are much different, “and threw it at the water trough with a clatter.” The changing styles helps emphasize the internal struggle the narrator is experiencing as he tries to figure out if he should do as society dictates and kill the snake like a man or do as he wishes and leave the snake in peace as his guest at the water
... 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 Black Cat” By Edgar Allen Poe Most people when they see a black cat they walk the opposite direction and do it very quickly. People think that black cats bring bad luck when you see them, which is why people use them during Halloween. Some historians trace superstitions about black cats back to the Middle Ages. At that time, some women were accused of witchcraft and practicing black magic. Many of these women had cats as companions, so they became guilty by association.
The impact a wild animal has on a community is severe. In 2009, Sandra Herold, the owner of a 200 pound chimpanzee, called her friend for help. Sandra needed assistance from Charla Nash to get her money back into its cage. Unexpectedly, the chimpanzee mauled Charla. In a 911 call Sandra frantically told the dispatcher what was happening, “He ripped her apart. Shoot him, shoot him”(Copeland 1).