This case study will look at the irrational fear of snakes as portrayed by the character Indiana Jones. Over the course of four movies, Indiana Jones has confronted his fear many times. He has even stated on many occasion that he hates snakes. At other times he has lamented why he is always confronted with snakes. This fear is clearly irrational, as most of the time, the snakes he is confronted with are neither poisonous nor overly dangerous.
On closer inspection of Indiana Jones phobia, it could be argued, that he merely dislikes or hates snakes. The situations Dr. Jones seems to find himself in are also often dangerous. One could argue that this would make his actions not irrational, but just a normal response to dangerous situation. I would certainly give Dr. Jones a pass on the time he was face to face with a cobra. However, he is clearly frightened of just being in the presence of snakes regardless of the danger presented. He even climbs out of a seat in an open cockpit plane due to the presence of a pet snake. This would clearly be avoidance that is out of
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proportion to the danger presented (). Dr. Jones must also try and imagine that a snake is instead a rope just to hold onto one to prevent a death by quicksand. In outlining a treatment regimen for Dr.
Jones I would suggest starting with a graded exposure therapy to treat his phobia (). I do not think that a flood technique would be helpful in this situation as Dr. Jones was dropped into a pit with hundreds of snakes in the first movie. Seeing as Dr. Jones still suffers from his phobia in later movies, one would infer that his unintentional flood exposure was not successful in treating his phobia. I would suggest gradually increasing Dr. Jones exposure to snakes, starting with visualizing them. After this, he could then be shown pictures of snakes leading to actually introducing them into the same room as Dr. Jones. I hope this would progress until he was able to touch a snake. Should any of the above steps be to distressing then a benzodiazepine could be used before the exposure therapy. This should help relieve the distress caused by exposure to this
stressor. Given Dr. Jones career, I think it would be very helpful to presume treatment for his phobia. It would seem that he spends, and will continue to spend, a large amount of time in jungle habitats. In this environment, Dr. Jones will continue to encounter snakes during his archeological adventures. With exposure therapy, he may never have to worry about drowning in quicksand again.
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
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
“Snakes” is a short story written by Danielle Evans. In this selection, a young girl visits her white grandmother during the summer, while her parents are in Brazil. There were many problems with race in this story since Tara, the key character and narrator, is mixed. Her Caucasian mother has trouble combing her hair and her grandmother was uncomfortable with her skin color. All the characters in this story have good intentions but have no idea how to deal with certain situations, which ends up with them having disastrous outcomes, such as Tara’s mother, Amanda, making her stay with her mother, Lydia but no understanding that she would be treated poorly, Lydia was responsible for the children but had no clue how to manage them, and lastly, Tara wanted to be with her mother but didn’t have any way to get back with her.
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 these 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 with awe the whole time, for to this day, when I watch or even read mythological stories, I feel the same childhood awe. The movie Jason and the Argonauts, directed by Nick Willing in 2000, is certainly not as campy as the old black and white, but it is just as awe-inspiring as is Peter Green’s translation of Apollonius of Rhodes’ version of Jason’s story: “Argonautika: The Story of Jason and the
Over centuries, humankind has searched for the line where positive and negative influence over nature intersect. “The Rattler”, a tale of a man and a rattlesnake who cross paths in the desert, deals with this very question. The individual is at first cautious of the snake, thinking it best to leave the dangerous creature alone. But at the thought of the nearby neighbors, he takes it upon himself to kill it, and then continues on into the night. The author uses comparison, diction and personification in “The Rattler” to promote sympathy for both characters: the snake and the man.
Ménez, Andre’. The Subtle Beast: Snakes, from Myth to Medicine. New York, New York: CRC Press, 2003.
“The Rattler” is a story that is written by Donald Beattie that expresses a survival and protective tone to persuade readers to side with the man that killed the snake in order to protect a larger community of animals and humans. Beattie is presenting the story to a large group of people in attempt to persuade them. Beattie uses imagery, simile, and pathos to develop a root of persuasion and convince the audience to reanalyze the man’s actions.
In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, it is shown when the boys are having a feast after they killed their first pig and the rain comes. When the boys start to fear that the rain wouldn’t stop they see a creature emerging from the woods. Not knowing the beast was actually simon, “out of terror rose another desire, thick, urgent, blind. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood’… It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming rose before the beast was like a pain” (Golding 152). In the quote the boys are viciously killing Simon because they think that he is the beast, they are in fear which demonstrates that fear causes one to think irrationally and act upon it. It is this very quote that proves that fear will drive one’s decisions and actions because it caused the boys to act without thinking, ultimately leading them to kill Simon due to the fear of the beast. Overall, this establishes how fear drives one’s decisions and actions. Along the same lines, the topic of how fear influences a person's actions and decisions is also seen in the movie Castaway. The main character, Chuck Noland is stranded on the island by himself, he can’t start a fire, he can’t find food, and can’t find water. This leads him to feel helpless and afraid
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.
A situation is presented that causes the readers a predicament. In the “Rattler” a short story a man must make a decision to kill a snake, or let it live taking in consideration his obligation to protect his farm and the people and animals in it. The author first presents the man with his point of view making him favorable to the readers showing his conflict in which he has to complete a duty despite his own morals for the protection of everyone else. The author then presents the snake as an innocent in the situation by using details that show the snake is not an evil being but rather a harmless victim. In “The Rattler” the man’s encounter with a snake leads him to do an obligation that he later feels remorseful for. The
Have you ever experienced that feeling when your heart beat goes into hyper drive, your palms start to perspire, and your muscles tense up? Fear is an emotion that everyone has succumbed to at least once in their lifetime. Our fears are like our shadows, for they follow us around to wherever we may go. They are lingering in the back of our minds from the moment we wake up in the morning until our heads hit the pillow at night. Fears are so powerful, however, that they can even crawl into our dreams and manifest into other beings. We, as humans, like to put names or concepts to either faces or objects; we like to possess the ability to visualize what something or someone looks like. As a result, our fears are personified into monsters. Prolific essayist, Chuck Klosterman, points out how “Frankenstein’s monster illustrated our trepidation about untethered science” and “Godzilla was spawned from the fear of the atomic age.” In Klosterman’s article, “My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead,” he tackles the
Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I'll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I'll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can't my hands are shaking. Don't worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don't care if I spill it, just get some in the engine. Take another look around, is there a dog anywhere. OK, the oils in, now hurry get back in the car. I can't breath. I'm safely back in the car, now just take a minute and breath. When will my hands stop shaking." This is how a person with a phobia of dogs might feel. There is no dog around anywhere in sight, but the thought of a dog running at them barking is enough to cause a panic attack. In "Exploring Psychology" David G. Myers defines phobia as "an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation" (432). This paper will explore the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias.
Smith, Melinda, M.A., Robert Segal, M.A., and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. "Phobias & Fears." Phobias and Fears: Symptoms, Treatment, and Self-Help. N.p., Feb. 2014. Web. 26 May 2014.
... 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.
Having a specific phobia towards the natural environment may sound unrealistic but it is indeed much more common than people believe. A natural environment phobia is fear of one or more of the following: heights, storms, or water. About 75% of people with this specific phobia averse more than one of the fears listed (DSM- APA). However, there is a difference between being fearful of something and it being a personal phobia of an individual. If it is a phobia it will last more than six months. Anything shorter than six months is then dismissed as a temporary fear. In children, this anxiety will be expressed by crying, temper tantrums, freezing or clinging on to their caregiver (DSM-APA). This can also be seen in sever phobias in adults but rarely does the adult have a temper tantrum, rather, a more developed emotional response is provoked. Typically, the amount of anxiety or fear that is actually observed during a phobic episode is entirely inordinate to the actual threat that a specific phobia may have (DSM-A...