'Smartest Animals In The Short Story The Rattler'
“The Rattler” Essay
The most dangerous animals can be also the calmest, smartest animals. In the short story “The Rattler”, A man encounters a seemingly harmless snake but still decides to take its life. Although the snake shows no signs of being dangerous, it is still killed because it is a snake. “The Rattler” invokes sympathy for the snake and empathy for the man through the descriptions and actions of the man and the snake. The personality, actions, and appearance of the snake generate sympathy in the reader. In the story, the snake comes off as calm and peaceful; he wasn’t looking to harm anyone. In the text it states, “The head was not drawn back to strike…” The snake wasn’t causing any harm or danger towards the man. If he was
planning on killing the man, he would’ve sounded off his alarm and spewed his venom. The snake’s actions don’t depict any type of violence or killing towards the man. “Quicker than I could strike, he shot into a dense bush and set up his rattling.” The snake is trying to get out of harm’s way. He is obviously trying to avoid conflict by going into the bush. If that wasn’t enough, he tried to sound his alarm to warm the man to leave him alone. After he is hit while in the bush, he is bloody and beat up and STILL isn’t trying to attack the man. The text states, “There was blood in his mouth and poison dripping from his fangs.” Although he was trying to get away, it wasn’t enough and he was killed. “It was all a nasty sight.” A “nasty sight” that wasn’t meant to be. This goes to show that even though you may not come off as vicious, people will still mistake you as vicious and try to kill you. The actions and views of the man invokes empathy for the man.
The most dangerous animals can be also the calmest, smartest animals. In the short story “The Rattler”, A man encounters a seemingly harmless snake but still decides to take its life. Although the snake shows no signs of being dangerous, it is still killed because it is a snake. “The Rattler” invokes sympathy for the snake and empathy for the man through the descriptions and actions of the man and the snake. The personality, actions, and appearance of the snake generate sympathy in the reader. In the story, the snake comes off as calm and peaceful; he wasn’t looking to harm anyone. In the text it states, “The head was not drawn back to strike…” The snake wasn’t causing any harm or danger towards the man. If he was
planning on killing the man, he would’ve sounded off his alarm and spewed his venom. The snake’s actions don’t depict any type of violence or killing towards the man. “Quicker than I could strike, he shot into a dense bush and set up his rattling.” The snake is trying to get out of harm’s way. He is obviously trying to avoid conflict by going into the bush. If that wasn’t enough, he tried to sound his alarm to warm the man to leave him alone. After he is hit while in the bush, he is bloody and beat up and STILL isn’t trying to attack the man. The text states, “There was blood in his mouth and poison dripping from his fangs.” Although he was trying to get away, it wasn’t enough and he was killed. “It was all a nasty sight.” A “nasty sight” that wasn’t meant to be. This goes to show that even though you may not come off as vicious, people will still mistake you as vicious and try to kill you. The actions and views of the man invokes empathy for the man.