Snake of the Dead 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 …show more content…
author uses rhetorical devices such as tone and diction to evoke feelings in the reader to sympathize with the snake and empathize with the man. The setting of the story also contributes with the feelings displayed. The author uses the man’s POV to show hesitation in his actions but how he follows through because of his obligations.
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
life. In the man’s point of view he uses diction to show his unwillingness too at first kill the snake but it came down to it being an obligation in order to protect. At first the man planned on ignoring the snake, which had not done anything to generate a battle between the two, and it appeared to at first also ignore him. Before any thought the man's “first instinct” was to let him “go his way” and he would “would go mine” which would avoid any conflict. This reveals that the man is not aggressive and it is showing readers he really did not want to kill the snake. This also conveys the man's feelings toward life as he would have at first let the snake be to prevent loss of his own life. However the man thinks of the possible dangers of the snake and decides to kill it but he does so with reluctance. The man feels that he does would not kill animals he “was not obliged to kill” because “taking a life is a satisfaction he cannot feel” so he hesitates with his plan. He shows his respect for nature by not wanting to kill an animal unless it was necessary. But obligation to protect leads him to stray from his personal feelings. Nevertheless he finally feels inclined to kill the snake to fulfill his duty to protect the ranch and the people in it. As a protector he feels it was his “duty” to “kill the snake” for the sake of everyone else. Using the word “duty” shows the man still had not wanted to kill the snake but thought it is was his only option. He felt he was doing the right thing which would in the end protect everyone in the future. The readers would feel empathy for the man because he had to go against his own morals to thing of the lives of others to protect them. The help build the techniques used by the author the setting is used to appeal for the feelings towards both the man and the snake. The setting of the story starts out tranquil even though as day light went out he was more susceptible to the dangers of animals of the night. “After sunset” he walked in “the desert” as the “light was thinning” into night. The sudden darkness made the narrator feel calm yet more vulnerable to danger. The setting creates a change of remorse for the snake and man because of where it took place would have caused both lives to be in danger. Likewise in the type of setting the author uses the man was more probable into seeing a wild array of dangerous animals. Again emphasizing the man “walked into the desert” out of his comfort zone. The desert is the natural habitat for a snake so being there the snake felt more relaxed until the man approached. The man would have not felt the need to kill the snake had he not approached it in the snake's “home”. Also the man had a ranch he wanted to protect so he felt obligated into eliminating possible dangers around it. He “reflected of the children, dogs, horses” at the “ranch” he was duties were to protect. In spite of himself being in the snake's home, the snake was to close in proximity to the ranch where he had children, dogs, women, and man. so had the snake came any closer it would have been a disaster and possible death to more than just one being, so he sacrificed the snake to prevent that. So either way the snake death had to come for the man to protect the ranch. In conclusion the author plays with the feelings of the reader by using diction, tone and setting to provoke sympathy for the snake and empathy for the man. These techniques ensure that the sides of each character can be understood and that both snake and man had the same emotions and are mentally equal in terms of the decisions that hand to made.
In the short story “The Hunter” the author Richard Stark introduces Parker, the main character of this book. The main character is a rough man, he’s a criminal, a murderer, and even an escaped convict. He’s described as crude and rugged and though women are frightened by him, they want him. Parker is not the classic criminal, but rather he’s intelligent, hard, and cunning. In this story the author carefully appeals to his audience by making a loathsome criminal into a hero, or rather, an anti-hero. The author, Richard Stark uses ethical appeal to make his audience like Parker through the use of phronesis, arête, altruism and lastly the ethos of his audience.
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
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
The harsh reality is one which hit everyone in America in the 1930. People found work hard to find and crime was on the uprise. This meant, unfortunately, that innocent people were the easy prey and, as we see in the Of Mice and Men, there were plenty of characters that were easy prey. Of Mice and Men characters have and do thing that make them vulnerable in way which do cause trouble. In this essay, that harsh reality and easy prey will be shown through to see which characters are the most vulnerable.
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.
William Faulkner overwhelms his audience with the visual perceptions that the characters experience, making the reader feel utterly attached to nature and using imagery how a human out of despair can make accusations. "If I jump off the porch I will be where the fish was, and it all cut up into a not-fish now. I can hear the bed and her face and them and I can...
However, three ethical decisions that this learning will make after viewing the film is to always assist individual to the best of your ability, despite personal issues with loved ones or friends; next, always report crimes, no matter the consequence they may have; and last but not least, stand up for what’s right, even if it leads to misfortune. The pros of each of these decisions is peace within yourself. However, one of the cons is dealing with negative pressures. For example, when you report a crime, you may be summoned to court, and have to deal with the negative criticism.
McCarthy uses literal and figurative language to describe the thief which creates a sympathetic image of him and positions the reader to pity him. The use of visual imagery in phrases such as "nude and slatlike creature" adds to the thief’s already pitiful image. By comparing the thief to a "creature", McCarthy stirs within the reader the natural compassion and desire to protect animals that humans have. The word “nude” also suggests a v...
When face with the truth, which reprimands it and convicts it of its faults, a venomous
In life, situations arrive that force us to make tough choices. Sometimes those choices are not what we feel are compassionate or morally right. We make these decisions to save ourselves. These are decisions of self-preservation, and they override compassion. Tadeusz Borowski depicts these choices in his book This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. He shows that when people are put in the choice of doing what’s right or preserving their life, one is preferred over the other. Would they rather save their selves or just watch others be sent to their death. In the novel, the narrator wrestles with his decisions and like Borowski suffers from them.
Moral decisions can be difficult to make if it goes against your beliefs. You could choose to either follow your orders or follow your instincts. The stories “Gregory” by Panos Ioannides and “The Day of the Last Rock Fight” by Joseph Whitehill, both have endings that results in a negative outcome; both the protagonists are conflicted whether they should be loyal to their leader or friend, or follow their instincts. The soldier from “Gregory” is conflicted to whether he has to kill Gregory or not, and Ronnie is in a situation where he has to make a decision to whether he should have reported his best friend Peter or not. These protagonists are negatively affected from the decisions they make. In “Gregory”, the soldier regrets killing “Gregory”, and in “The Day of the Last Rock Fight”, Ronnie is heavily burdened after making the decision not to tell the detective of how Gene Hanlon dies. Furthermore, both the stories portray how it can be difficult making decisions when you know that your decision could have a great impact on the society and yourself.
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
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and “The Child By Tiger” by Thomas Wolfe are two short stories that have completely different plots, but have many similarities that relate them. Both stories deal with unexpected killers and have a twist that surprises the audience. These pieces make use of foreshadowing and address discrimination, but the characterizations of the protagonists are very different and they affect the readers in distinctive ways.
... 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.