The Rattler Analysis

At least once in their life, people make a decision, and grow to eventually regret what they have done and reflect on what could have been done instead. In the passage “The Rattler” the speaker recalls the time when he crosses paths with a snake and has to debate whether to kill the snake. The author invites the reader to feel empathy for the man and sympathy for the snake using the point of view of the man, attitude of the snake, and descriptions of the setting. The author demonstrates empathy for the man through his appreciation for nature, justification for killing the snake, and his remorse after its death. The passage begins with the man walking in the desert when he comes across the snake. As the man crossed paths with the snake his

At first, when the man comes near the snake with the hoe, the snake takes action to prove that he will attack in an attempt to defend his life. “His tail twitched… quite sportingly” described the man as the snake “drew back his head”. The snake takes action showing that he recognizes what the man is doing and is ready to fight. The snake is showing that he must defend and ready himself to take part in what is to come. This creates sympathy because the snake is not the one who is there to fight, that the snake is simply there ready to defend himself. The snake is being protective and not offensive towards the man. The snake gave careful warning to the man that he did not want to fight while “He lay there like a live wire … calm watchfulness”. This represents his attitude towards the man, as the snake is showing mercy to the man. It looks as if the snake is the one who is dangerous. The snake had no intention of hurting the man; He was trying to spare the man’s life. Thus, this creates sympathy for the snake because the snake’s attitude makes the audience feel for the snake, that the snake is not the villain. He is showing mercy by being lenient to the man at first. He wants to avoid any upcoming affairs. Finally, the snake also has a sense of cockiness in his attitude, that he is dangerous and he is aware of it, that he is not afraid to use it. He “shook his fair but furious signal” his “little song of death”. The snake sees himself as the boss of the situation. He feels as if he makes the calls on what will happen therefore develops cockiness in his attitude. In the end, details of the snake were given after it was killed. With “blood in his mouth and poison dripping from his fangs” as described by the man once the snake was fully dead. These details were added to show how brutally killed the snake was. Sympathy is created for the snake with the audience to imagine