D.H. Lawrence: Critique of Social Practices (References Snake, the North Country, and the Triumph of the Machine)

The details about how the man feels and thinks gives the reader a sense that he is a sensible man. The man does not take joy in the task of killing the snake given to him by himself. The man knows that “the sport in taking life is a satisfaction [he] can’t feel.” THe man wants to let the snake go and not kill it. It is a similar feeling to having to give something up despite wanting to keep it. The reader has some experience with a situation like this and can feel how the man wishes to let the snake go. The man feels that the job he has given himself is something that has to be done. He looked at it as “[his] duty, plainly, was to kill the snake.” The feeling of having to have to do something is not enjoyable. It comes with some kind of displeasure in what is going on. A similar feeling could be like having to go to the dentist to get teeth pulled. The situation

In the morosely reluctant passage, “The Rattler,” the author depicts a conflict between a man’s consciousness and his duty to kill the snake. With the detailed images of the scene, the reader comes to understand the man’s internal conflict. He must decide whether or not it is necessary to kill an innocent rattlesnake; however, when the obligation to protect others is greater than the life of the snake, the man has no other choice but to kill the snake. Throughout the passage, “The Rattler” brilliantly utilizes diction, detail, syntax and overall organization to convey his message.

The detail increases the power the snake exudes in the perspective of the man. “Children, dogs, and horses…who weren’t as strong” compared to the snake, created panic and fear, because of its “six powerful fangs” and “little

As the initial path of conflict between snake and man is developed, literary devices such as imagery allow the reader to more easily visualize and connect to the story. Descriptive imagery is the first literary device used in “The Rattler”. The use of “ Light was thinning; the scrub’s dry savory odors were sweet on the cooler air. In this, the first pleasant moment for a walk after long blazing hours” (The Rattler 1) in the opening of the piece encourages the reader to delve into the narrator’s life and experience what he feels. After the narrator abruptly sees the snake, the imagery changes from the peaceful rural life to a dark, intense description of the snake, “a six-foot black snake thick as my wrist, capable of long-range attack and armed with powerful fangs” (The Rattler 2), changing to the viewpoint of the snake for the reader. The switch in the use of imagery takes the reader through a completely different path and alters their emotional response to the story. The snake’s presence illustrates the narrator’s obvious fear and anxiety while allowing the reader to feel the same emotions

The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the

Another aspect to this poem that is very important would be the figurative language. The author uses a lot of similes and metaphors throughout further illustrate this father’s ridiculous ways. The speaker uses the simile “snaked like dragons” to describe the fire engines, this was a good choice in comparison because when you think of a dragon you automatically think of bright fires and then when you continue on the thought you think of their crouched down tiptoes

It is apparent from the first line of the poem that author is in a state of overriding fear travelling through the unknown: likening the road to an “old snake shedding its skin.” A snake is a clear representation of childhood fear and youthful paranoia, due to its intimidating nature. Walcott compares the path to a snake because he fears it just like a snake, to him the path is daunting and potentially deadly at first. The author not only compares the road to a snake but a snake shedding its skin. This paints a grotesque image for readers and illustrates how he views his initial journey with anything but enthusiasm. The author is in the unfamiliar wilderness searching for not only the storyteller’s house but himself. His state of childhood terror is only counterbalanced by his encounter with the storyteller.

The organization found within the passage of “The Rattler” illustrates to the reader how the once calm mood turns into one of hostility. At the beginning of the second paragraph, the reader notices how at first the snake’s body lay “undulant”. This moment shows although the snake is capable of attack, it has no intentions to harm the narrator. The mood seems to remain calm until not the snake, but the man, “dragged him out of it with his back broken.” This action exemplifies the mood only becomes hostile when the man initiates attack. Towards the end, the reader can see regret from the man of the “nasty sight”. Respect can be found for both characters as they are both trying to protect something dear to them – the man his fellow members of

The author uses the lax nature of the snake to make its death seem uncalled for, thus, instilling feelings of sympathy in the reader for the snake. When the snake is introduced, it notices the man but does not make a move to attack him.

However, the poem has fluidity despite its apparent scarcity of rhyme. After examining the alteration of syllables in each line, a pattern is revealed in this poem concerning darkness. The first nine lines alternate between 8 and 6 syllables. These lines are concerned, as any narrative is, with exposition. These lines set up darkness as an internal conflict to come. The conflict intensifies in lines 10 and 11 as we are bombarded by an explosion of 8 syllables in each line. These lines present the conflict within one's own mind at its most desperate. After this climax, the syllables in the last nine lines resolve the conflict presented. In these lines, Dickinson presents us with an archetypal figure that is faced with a conflict: the “bravest” hero. These lines present the resolution in lines that alternate between 6 and 7 syllables. Just as the syllables decrease, the falling action presents us with a final insight. This insight discusses how darkness is an insurmountable entity that, like the hero, we must face to continue “straight” through “Life” (line 20).

The third stanza describes the snake as “cool and gleaming as a braided whip” (9-10). Describing the snake as a braided whip demonstrates the intricate woven pattern of the snake’s scales and the poet’s appreciation for nature and its’ beauty. The snake is not a useless piece of rubber, but a beautiful and vibrant part of nature. “He is as beautiful and quiet as a bead brother” (10-11). The snake is quiet, makes no sound, and snuggles into

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

“Piano” and “Snake” in D.H Lawrence’s representations express an inner conflict; the troubles they face are based upon distinct and similar reasons, they want an escape to their present state. “Piano” and “Snake” in D.H Lawrence’s representations express an inner conflict; the troubles they face are for distinct and similar reasons; they want an escape to their present state. The interpretation received when analyzing “Piano” was that the narrator himself was having a troublesome time because he aspired something that was nostalgically unreachable for him, his childhood. What caused this inclination to be unreachable was due to the time passing which resulted in him becoming an adult and conforming to the constitutional systems. Snake’s narrator’s inner distress came from the need to break down the structural voices and principles that educational systems had constructed upon him. Both narrators have heavily built up emotions for the want of liberation from the prisons that confine them to the structures meant for them; their desires although differing in context are similar in topic matter. There are in fact differences in what they long for, but there is no doubt that they do desire something different from what they presently have.

The poem, “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass,” by Emily Dickinson is a collaboration of fear and intrigue. The poem is presented through a young boy as he makes his way through cool and damp grassland during the afternoon. The issue the young boy must deal with is the unwelcome encounter with a snake. From the first glimpse of the slithering snake the tone of the poem is set: an uneasiness mood followed by persistent fear. The combination of external conflict and dexterous imagery create the atmosphere of this poem.

Stafford furtively conceals the profound meaning of his poem behind a story of the narrator, who stops alongside the road to care for a deer. The genius behind poem is better understood when the superficial meaning is expressed deeply.