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John Steinbeck The Snake Analysis

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In John Steinbeck’s “The Snake”, he used a scenic approach in order to manipulate the dynamic between science and fiction by juxtaposing the realities of a science lab with a non-existent woman, which leads the reader to question if Dr. Phillips is mentally stable, by creating characters that would showcase how dark our inner thoughts are. John Steinbeck includes this as a way to prompt secure emotions full of conviction and realization in the readers, to the extent of establishing sacred connections between what is real and what our mind convinces us to be real.
The setting fails to reach the common standards of a normal science lab. A normal science laboratory receives visitors who watches the processes and participates in the studies of …show more content…

John Steinbeck created the woman in “The Snake” with alluding characteristics to the poisonous snake. Similar to the snake, this woman is dark, sneaky and vindictive. A comparison of the woman to the snake reveals that the woman herself is snakelike. Not only does her physical characteristics (tall, lean, dressed in black) match those of the snake, but also her actions matched those of a snake as well. As the woman walked away to leave the lab, Dr. Phillips described her walk as silent, because he could not hear her footsteps against the pavement. This suggests that the woman was slithering away in a snakelike manner. As the snake swayed over to the prey, the woman swayed as if she was the snake. While the snake ate its prey, Dr. Phillips thought, “If she 's opening her mouth, I 'll be sick. I 'll be afraid.” Then he proceeded to keep his eyes away from the woman and her disturbing actions. John Steinbeck creates characters like the woman, comparing a human with animal like characteristics. In the book “Literature and the Grotesque,” Brian Railback, an English professor, creates a section of the book to specifically analyze John Steinbeck’s use of the animalistic characters in his stories. Brian Railback analyzes the works of John Steinbeck from Steinbeck’s point of view. John Steinbeck was the friend of biologist, Ed Rickett. John Steinbeck often found himself using words like “species” rather than “mankind” and “humanity.” (Meyer 54) According to Brian Railback, John …show more content…

During his time spent in the lab with his biologist friend (Ed Rickett), John Steinbeck experiences “The Snake” story. He remarked countless times that he did not understand everything that occurred in the lab that day, or that he did not understand why those string of events happened altogether. When reading the retelling of the mysterious woman invasion, it is apparent that all of the pieces are not completely together. There is a true use of manipulation for the unconscious mind. This manipulation causes irrationalities and mishaps. John Steinbeck does not give an exuberant amount of information about Dr. Phillips. Nonetheless, his dedication to the numerous trials that he is experimenting with and the anger and anxiousness from missing his timely mannered experiments, it is inferred that Dr. Phillips has a mental illness, despite the magnitude of the said

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In the allegory “The Turtle,” the author John Steinbeck explains that as life gets harder people work hard to succeed, and people may try to get in the way. Although the story does talk about a turtle climbing an embankment, people can relate to this story on an emotional level because they can understand overcoming the struggles in life. The struggles in life depend on what goals people set out to achieve. In this paper, the writer will examine the allegorical meanings of the turtle.

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In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck incorporates the word “periscope” to describe a movement/action that takes place. Steinbeck uses the word when he describes the movement of a snake’s head, “....a water snake slipped along on the pool, its head held up like a periscope.” It is apparent that when the author uses this word, he is describing how the snake is lifting his head and overwatching his surroundings. This term adds to the description of the animals in the setting  and the use of a periscope shows the behavior of the animals in this scene. Periscope is used to show the demeanor of the snake and the size of the land around it.

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With the wife also displaying similar brown lines on her body, the comparison between the fish and the wife is shown with a sense of similar feelings of distress in their current situations. The narrator is able to feel sympathy towards the female fish because she can sense her fear of being cornered and a need to hide herself from the male. Just like the female fish, the narrator is going through a similar situation with her husband, in that the narrator felt belittled by her husband and a need to hide herself from him when he would be in one of his moods. For example, the birth of their daughter, they had different views on childbirth. The wife wanted to do a water birth because she heard it was a better for the baby, but she didn't argue for it because she

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”(Steinbeck 33). Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. 1993. Penguin, 1937. Print.

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He had portrayed each point that he might come across in his journey towards his destination, while flavoring it with his desires in a comical way. While the “Black snake moan” includes repetition for stressing the scary emotions of the

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John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a short novel that packs a punch and really looks back at America’s past and mistakes. Steinbeck paints a picture of the late 1920s and early 1930s through two men, George and Lennie. George looks after the mentally challenged Lennie and must take action by soon ending Lennie’s life. The characters in the novel all struggle with heartbreaking conflicts but, no one else suffers more than Lennie and George. These conflicts are often supported imagery in the text.

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The novellas Of Mice and Men and The Pearl are both often noted as social criticisms. The author, John Steinbeck addresses real-life issues that society is facing. Whether through direct statements and comments, or through a fictional characters’ situation, Steinbeck criticizes just some of the problems of society. He shows the way people are discriminated against, and why. He shows the issues society faces.

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In the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck often employs animal imagery to dehumanize Lennie, in order to allow the reader to justify George putting him down at the end of the novella. As Steinbeck’s use of animal imagery progresses throughout the novel, Lennie is dehumanized by being compared to an animal that only hinders George’s pursuit of happiness. Starting with Lennie’s introduction, Steinbeck influences how the reader perceives Lennie. During the reader's first encounter with Lennie, he is described as walking “heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws," (Steinbeck 2). Steinbeck’s diction invokes animal imagery by comparing Lennie’s movements to that of a bear, which immediately dehumanizes Lennie to the reader.

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The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.

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