Theme Of Dominance In Danielle Evan's Snakes

Dominance is a persistent theme throughout Danielle Evan’s “Snakes” as it consistently highlights each character’s need to regain control. Tara’s grandmother, Lydia, constantly expresses her aggravation over losing control over her daughter, Amanda. She blames Amanda for letting her outlandish views drive them apart. Lydia shifts the blame of losing control to Tara throughout many instances in the story. Lydia is known as the openly conservative antagonist who’s an outspoken authoritarian. She asserts her dominance over Tara far more often than her cousin, Allison. It’s apparent early on that this might be caused by a racial bias. Tara is a well behaved biracial child with thick tangly hair. Her cousin Allison is white with a history of bad

She took the lie as far as she did in order to enforce her dominance over the girls for visiting the lake without permission. Arguably, way too far because it caused Tara to suffer from a crippling phobia. In this instance, the role of dominance switches over to Tara. Tara regains control over the situation by never leaving the house, never sleeping near the walls and never using the toilet without Allison close by. A chain of events lead the girls back to the lake they were feared out of visiting. This setting leads to the next instance of Tara’s dominance. She regained control over the situation of feeling far from her parents after being dropped off with a racist controlling grandmother against her will. Tara purposely jumped face first into the lake and cracked open her head. “Twenty feet and I would have my parents back, I would have my mother forever… That afternoon above the murky water, which I remembered quite clearly, there had been nothing but me, looking down at my own reflection, and seeing at last a way toward what I wanted most.” What she wanted most was control over the situation, and her life