Karma In The Japanese Tales

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.

When in times of danger, people must often take the actions they see best fit. In "The Rattler," the author depicts a vivid story of a man who has to make a difficult choice while facing a rattlesnake in the desert. Despite the man seeing a threat in the snake, it is him that becomes a threat to the other. By using the descriptions of the man, the snake and the specific setting, the author affects the reader by creating a sense of empathy for the narrator and sympathy for the snake. With such a connection, it adds a greater depth to the story for the reader to analyze.

The snake is harmless, minding its own business and is no threat to Margaret but she goes on to attack it because she had been told by Miss Laing that they are dangerous. This is therefore like the anti-German propaganda fed to the British public during the war. There are also biblical links in the relation to the snake as Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil in the form of a snake in Genes. Now Margaret has been tempted to disobeying Miss Laing.

Though serpents do connect to the negative, they can also connect to the positive. As snakes grow, ecdysis takes

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

Another symbol that is seen throughout the story are snakes. Snakes play a major role in the story and reveal information on the nature of Delia's and Sykes' relationship. In a "traditional myth and folklore and in the Bible, the snake represents evil" and are an allusion to the good and evil in the bible and are a symbol of original sin (Champion). Snakes can also indicate the coming

In the biblical book of Genesis, Eve is tempted by a serpent to commit an ungodly act of eating a forbidden fruit. As a result of the snake's temptation, Eve eats the fruit, resulting in the presence of worldwide sin and the downfall of perfection. From this story of Adam and Eve, the figure of the snake has become generally associated with temptation, evil, and cynicism. William Shakespeare employs this symbolic imagery of snakes in Macbeth, to enhance the story of the rise and fall of Macbeth's power. For poetic and playwright purposes, Shakespeare uses serpentine imagery to reveal the malevolence of characters, and portray the threatening position of the throne, all while provoking a heightened emotion of fear and tragedy from the

Not only can snakes represent vengefulness and vindictiveness, but also a source of water and

The author’s use of the first-person point of view allows the reader to imagine the man versus snake encounter as if he or she was inside the scene. After he left for his walk on the desert, the man abruptly “stopped short” and said that even if “taking life is a satisfaction [he] can’t feel,” he needed to kill the snake blocking his path. The man’s sudden stop shows the reader his stunned reaction when he sees another creature other than himself. The author’s initial objection to taking animal life in his own hands tells the reader that the author was a man of peace and innocence. During the murder scene, the man “listened for a minute to this little song of death” that the snake played, proceeded to kill the snake, and then decided “not to cut off the rattles for a trophy”.

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

Dante also relates how sins are punishable by the act that was committed. He does this through an allegory by saying things such as, “Their hands were bound behind by coils of serpents...A great snake shot up and bit him where the neck joins with the shoulder.” The snake in this canto depicts a couple things: The guilt that the thieves lived with from either stealing from the wrong person or hurting someone, always running and being bound by fear of being caught and the punishments that come back to get them. The snakes that bind their wrists and feet represent their emotions. While some certainly didn't care about their actions others were tormented by what they had done, be it from stealing from someone that didn't deserve it or being in the position where it was kill or be killed. The sneaky snake that jumps out and grabs the guy can represent the punishment they escaped catching back up with them.

The snake lacks the equal protection that other animals have to survive , allowing him to be easily hunted and stomped on. This story’s tone is more peaceful and understanding as God distributes more protection abilities towards the snake, so all animals remain equal in power. Here God listens to the each creatures complaint and fixes them without disrupting order in the world, “God looked off towards immensity and thought about de subject for awhile... Well, snake, I dont want yo’ generations all stomped out and I don’t want you killin’ everything else dat moves”. Though the snakes abilities outweighed others , God intervened and set balance again peacefully.

Decker arranged a sting operation to catch this culprit. Caught in this operation, Oluwatosin “dropped the paperwork he had just received” in terror and was taken to the Los Angeles Country Superior Court, where he received an appropriate punishment of “ten years in prison” under charges of identity theft (O’Harrow, Mimoso). Similarly, Dante’s Inferno forces the “naked and terrified” thieves to run from venomous snakes with their “hands behind their backs,” “without a hope of hiding” (Alighieri 251). The thieves who once were concealing themselves are now exposed. Moreover, with Oluwatosin’s numerous stolen identities, his crimes resemble the “chelydri and jaculi, phareans, cenchres, and head-tailed amphisbenes” of Libya (251). Oluwatosin assumed these identities to camouflage himself, much as snakes do in their environment. However, once apprehended, both the thieves of Dante’s fourteenth century Italy and today’s society must endure punishment. As the United States court system sentenced Oluwatosin to ten years in prison, Dante Alighieri arranges a more extreme punishment, where snakes “thrust” between the legs of sinners and form a “knot” in the groin (253). This punishment illustrates the idea of contrapasso, or a fitting punishment. Oluwatosin’s life of crime tied a knot of confinement since his former self could never be restored and his rights were limited in prison. Furthermore, the punishment reveals the

In Japanese literature throughout history, there tends to be an idea of nature that is not nature as it really is, but is a projection of the subjective self. This is portrayed through the concept of Mappō. Mappō in Japanese Buddhism, is the age of the degeneration of the Buddha’s law, when only the teachings remained, the practices were no longer pursued, and enlightenment was a mere word. This is a concept that has substance, especially when combined with mujō, the idea of impermanence. Mujō became an idea because Buddha taught that because all things within our lives and our world are constantly changing, it’s important to remember that nothing is permanent. Kamo no Chōmei’s writing presents a variety of elements related to Mappō, which, through the concept of mujō, shows the impermanence of nature as well as humanity fading into the vastness of nothingness. Through the traditions of simplicity, isolation, and religion, specifically Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra, Hōjōki shows this disastrous fleeting through a calm, poetic, narrative voice. This paper will argue that themes of nature are connected to the idea of the subjective self, through impermanence, and studies how Chōmei’s worldview affects his perspective on nature and the natural world.