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The Use Of Diction In Patric's The Rattler

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Recommended: Violence in mid 20th century literature

A.S Patric’s use of diction conveys his feelings as being almost culpable for killing off the snake, but he tries to make it seem like the man was obligated to kill it. The scene where the man says, “My first instinct was to let him go this way and I would go mine”, shows that he wasn’t violent by nature. The man describes afterward that he had to look out for the other people and animals that might be harmed by this venomous creature. The effects that this passage can have on a reader is one where they may feel pity for the naive snake and the ‘violent’ man. The use of the word, hacking, seems to indicate that the man was mercilessly trying to attack the creature.The snake seems to be put as the victim when Patric describes it as being calm while watching the man. The way Patric uses his words can be interpreted in many different attitudes to whoever is reading it.
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