“The Rattler”
“The Rattler” is a seemingly honest passage. It details the relationship between
man and nature. The author applied excellent detail, diction, point of view, and syntax to
articulate emotions of hostility between the two individuals. “The Rattler” depicts man
torn for his respect of the rattlesnake and the love and fear that he has for his fellow
people who were unaware of the potentially harmful visitor. The tones of this piece
reflect the man’s remorseful and protective qualities of fulfilling his duties.
The author’s detail in “The Rattler” affects the speaker’s attitude of a pity on the
man’s having to kill the snake. The man had a chore to do, and the “ominous” song of
death conveys the message to the reader “that life [is] dear, and it [will] be dearly sold”
(
). The detail of this piece helps the passage flow from the beginning of the
conflict to the outcome without confusion.
The author’s diction in “The Rattler” conveys the natural conflict between man
and foe. The danger that unsuspecting women and children would undergo would be too
much for a man to worry about. “Abruptly I stopped short” and he says that his first
instinct was that “[he] would go [his]” way (
). He soon knew that was not an
option and that he must kill this living creature. As the battle began, the snake “held his
ground” while the man left for a short while, only to go to the “ranch house, get a hoe,
and [return] (
). The diction is written very well to point out what the man is feeling
and helps the reader to infer just what the snake was emoting as well.
In “The Rattler”, the first person point of view emphasizes the sorrow of the man
and the fearlessness of the snake. The moods therefore are sorrow and fearlessness. From
the start of the story, the man states: “[he] had made an unprovoked attack” (
).The
serpent did not reveal any reasons of attacking until “I raised my weapon” (
)
The snake seemed to realize that the only logistical reasoning behind getting defensive is
when a life is in danger. The snake seemed to know that his life was in danger as soon as
the narrator walked up with a hoe. They waited to see what the other’s intentions were,
although, in the end, intentions only had a part in the man’s decision, not the snake’s
decisions. The man recognizes what his moral job calls for. He must “get a hoe” (
)
to exterminate the snake. The man “never killed an animal [he] was not obliged to kill”
(
). The narrator also felt that it was unnecessary to keep the rattle for a trophy.
The reader can suffer through the pressure as the metal instrument assaulted the snake,
leaving it dismembered. However, they can also value the man’s minute of respectful
stillness as he reflected on the freedom that the snake could still have, “self-respecting in
departure over the hills” (
). This strengthens the first-person commentary because
it is concluding the battle of man versus nature and this shows the acknowledgment that
the man has for life.
The author’s syntax transfers from being disjointed proclamations to being entire
thoughts. Finally, the thoughts and actions transform with the use of reflective,
fragmented sentencing. In the beginning, the syntax exploits hyphened sentences. These
expressly show the man’s emotions as he looks at the world around him. The author does
so to generate a harmonic environment prior to the big battle. In the middle, the sentence
structure developed into complete sentences. With complete and shortened sentencing,
the narrator was quick to make a decision based on the options that were set before him.
At first, he ponders whether to kill the snake, and then he was overcome by conviction in
his heart to fulfill the duty that he knows he must. The author swaps from the meditative,
fragmented sentencing to the comprehensive sentences because the narrator
acknowledges what he is required to do. He is no longer wondering and having
incomprehensive thoughts. In the end, the sentence structure became more disjointed
than the middle section, but less fragmented than the beginning. This is because the man
knew his duty, yet he was contemplating the question of what if the occurrences did not
have to work out that way. The author does this to show the man’s emotions and his
transformed attitude of his surroundings. “The Rattler” transpires from a nice little walk
to a battle of man versus nature.
In conclusion, “The Rattler” was a philosophical passage. It allowed the reader to
see into the mind of this man that had no desire to take away any life, but yet, his duties
were all too clear that he must do so. The point of view of the man was exceptionally
deep and quick thinking. The styles are articulated through the detail, diction, point of
view, and syntax. “The Rattler” is role modeling the type of man that will do what he has
to in order to protect his family.