On the Man and the Serpent
1.Introduction on the fable
The story the Man and the Serpent is about harm and forgiveness. It starts with the death of the countryman’s son. Having trod on a serpent, the countryman’s son was bitten by it and died. The farmer was furious and cut the serpent’s tail by his axe. This upset the snake, it revenged on the farmer by stinging his cattle. The farmer wanted to call a halt on this war, claiming that he would forgive the serpent for killing his son. He also hoped the snake could forget its lost tail. However the serpent revealed the truth that both of them wouldn’t forget the loss. The story ends by a moral-teaching: Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.
2.The story and Empathy
At my first glance, the
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How do we come up with this idea? The basic reason is that we estimate everything with our shaped thinking-pattern and under our moral-evaluation system. We are not used to put our feet into others’ shoes. Our children are dear to us. The tail is treasured to a snake as well. The loss of the countryman and the serpent are not comparable. Take my own experience as an example. My cousin and I grew up together. As a girl, I was a big fan of Barbie dolls and I had vast collection of them,while my cousin was a viechle enthusiast and own an enormous collection of car models. One day we had a bet, striking a deal that if either of us won, the loser would gave the most favourable toy to the winner. It turned out I was the loser, as the deal, I gave the most beautiful doll in my collection to my cousin. Several days later, I found my Barbie laying on the sofa with a leg missing. I was furious to cry. To comfort me, our granny made my cousin to give his favourite toy car to me. It was a white Porsche model, a real beauty. But as a little girl who fascinated with blonde dolls in dresses with frills, the model never drove my sadness away. There is a probe: a man’s trash is another’ treasure. Due to our different evaluation standard, there is no solid criterion for what is valuable. If we can get this, the blame and hatred will be diluted when conflicts rises. And this kind of …show more content…
As far as I concerned, the serpent is just realistic and honesty. For most of the circumstances, hurts can not be forgive, let alone being forgotten. The serpent knows that well, and has the courage to admit that. Not all the conflicts can be settle, and the world doesn’t have to run without conflicts. The reluctant forgiveness and forget are no better than lies. Being honest to your inner mind is the first step to do the right thing and be a good man. It’s never too late to forgive as long as we truly mean it. However, the ones who try to be nice just for the thought that they should be kind will not live to the honor of a good
To begin, the theme one's own selfishness can end up pushing away and hurting those close to them is shown through
In this section of the reading, the creature’s habits really stood out to me. I couldn’t help but see a more softer and human like side to the monster. When the creature is observing his neighbors he comes to notice that they are unhappy and he is “deeply affected” by this. When the creature learns that poverty is causing their unhappiness he also comes to the realization that when he has stolen their food he causes them great pain and suffering. So the creature “abstained” and swore to not steal anymore. So not only is this supposedly monsterish creature feeling sorrow and remorse for others pain, but he also chooses to end his role in causing this pain. These kind of emotions and actions that the creature is conducting are really interesting.
In the short story “The Rattler,” a snake appears near a ranch house where the narrator works. Having to make a split second decision, the man decides to kill a harmless snake in order to fulfill his duties. The author makes the reader feel empathy for the man and sympathy for the snake through language and details about the man, the rattler, and the setting.
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.
There has been a time at one point in a person’s life where they were given a task they did not want to do. Sometimes it has to be done. The the short story The Rattler, a mane is talking a walk through a desert setting. His walked was suddenly stopped when he saw a dangerous looking snake, at first glance anyway. He was faced with the task of killing the snake. When the task was complete, he was not thrilled. In The Rattler, the author creates the effect of empathy for the man and sympathy for the snake. The techniques used to achieve that are the description of the man, description of the snake, the setting.
In “The Rattler”, the dutiful and empathetic tones reflect the nature of both humans and snakes when they are forced to interact with one another. Considering the man and a snake’s natural instinct to protect themselves and others, they must duel to complete this responsibility. The story continues by the man expounding his inner thoughts and feelings to the audience.
Throughout the story the author presents a conflicted man, an ethical snake, and a tranquil setting to cause the reader to feel empathy along with anger towards the man and sympathy towards the snake. The author uses arrogant tone, condemnatory diction, and the man’s point of view to cause the reader to feel betrayed and disappointed
All of this shows how because of greed and jealousy, it often ended in bad actions, choices and results. Two stories ended in deaths and one story ended in guilt because of this. The authors showing through their stories how greed and jealousy can make everything crash and
Revenge has always been an exciting theme to incorporate into any literary work. This revenge adds conflict, action, and contrast to any story. There have been hundreds of thousands of stories and tales which cause readers to experience similar feeling to that of the main characters. With revenge, the reader may side with the main character whether or not the main character is morally right or wrong. By human nature, people around the globe have always been trying their hardest to come out on top in arguments or fights (Price 2009). As humans, they want to win. This is how a story about revenge is so well loved and experienced by many as it relates well with human nature and how a person would react to these situations. It is a natural feeling every single person feels at some point in their lives. Two well-known tales call this vengeful mode of literary artwork their own as they both portray characters who strive for revenge. These stories are Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Sophocles’ Antigone. Shakespeare, a very famous playwright created his play with the intention of showing the audience how revenge returns to haunt the vengeful. He also showed how seeking revenge is not the ideal way of dealing with a situation. Sophocles created his play to show how justice can be better and more worthy than just seeking revenge. But he also how to be careful for seeking justice can turn into seeking revenge and a full circle back to the demise of the vengeful as well. There
This innocence allows Adam and Eve to live in the Garden of Eden, free from all conflict under the condition that they follow the only rule God gave them. This rule was to simply stay away from the tree of knowledge. However, Satan came to Eve in the form of a snake and tempted her to eat from the tree knowledge. This tree grants the consumer knowledge and curiosity, which negates the innocence Eve once held. Adam, learning of this, is quite furious, yet he eats the apple as well. The apple granted the two beings the ability to know of lust, shame, and mutual distrust. Their punishment would be banishment from the garden, pregnancy for Eve, and labor work for Adam. Hence the title, Paradise Lost, meaning the simple and gracious life they lead has crumbled due to their actions. With this, we are able to connect the monster to Adam. The quote “I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam” (66) is said to Victor by the creature when they encounter each other atop Mont Blanc. This quote essentially explains how the monster began as an innocent creature knowing nothing, much like Adam, and suffers considerably as he discovers how people view him. He is a monster, a symbol of terror to the human race. As readers go further into the book, they learn that the monster reads Paradise Lost
When the monster returns, he learns of the family’s sudden plans to move away. With no other direction, the monster seeks out answers from his creator. He comes across Victor’s papers, which reveal his identity and residence. With his newfound information, the monster decides to find his way to Victor. Throughout his journey his curiosity begins to turn into hatred and rage towards his creator. As he treks across the continent he discloses, “the spirit of revenge is enkindled in my heart” (119). This shows the monster’s capability of harboring dark emotions; it shows his benevolence quickly slipping away.
Also, after walking past a village, the son claims to have seen a little boy and begs his father if they can go back and get him. The man then says “Stop it. We can’t[,]” (McCarthy 80) and thinks that his son sees things. Again, the selfish desire to survive prevents him from helping others. He does not want to go back because he does not want to do anything that will risk their lives. The thirst for survival becomes greater than his conscience. Hence it prevents him from giving into his son. Another time this occurs is when the man and his son are robbed by a stranger. The man catches him and takes back their stuff, along with the thief’s belongings. The son begs the father to show mercy on the criminal, but the father does not care and so “they set out along the road south with the boy crying and looking back at the nude and slat-like creature standing there… Shivering and hugging himself.” (McCarthy 229).
Through this tragedy, Arthur Miller is able to show the audience the benefits in forgiveness. He uses Abigail’s misfortunate choice of action to communicate to the spectators that, while the temptation of vengeance is often a great one in the face of pain or offence, it holds the potential to rebound, when forgiveness typically holds no such potential. Every now and then, taking the higher road is better than taking the more satisfactory
Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a person’s monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for “their” loss.
The Illustrated Man, a science fiction novel written by Ray Bradbury, reaches the first publication in 1951, post World War II society and a current Cold War environment. The time period and characteristics of World War II, the Cold War, and foreshadowing of the Civil Rights Movement serve as important influences for Bradbury’s subject and themes of the novel. Recurring ideas of censorship, technology, justice, and largely death, exist in events and fears of the day. Leading all themes to tie into an allegorical warning Bradbury directs to an audience of American youth, fearful of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, artist in Hollywood during the age of McCarthyism, or anyone fearful of a relevant issue, such as, the possibilities of