Stereotypes In 'The Rattler'

When someone is wrongfully judged, one can find that it is often caused by ignorance or a refusal to accept new information and ideas that contrast with what one previously believes is true. No different occurs when the narrating man takes a walk in the desert. He approaches a snake, and decides to kill the snake out of a misguided sense of duty, convinced that the snake is a potentially dangerous creature. In the short passage entitled “The Rattler”, language and details about the snake and the man convince readers to feel sorrow for the snake and disappointment toward the man.

By using descriptive language to personify the snake and his virtues, readers are able to sympathize with the snake because they see that it is the victim of a vicious stereotype that it defies. The snake …show more content…
“Where a six-foot black snake...will flee at the sight of man...he held his ground in calm watchfulness...waiting for me to show my intentions (6-9).” The man claims that the snake is not as fearful or jumpy as the other snakes, that it waits for the man to give him something to be fearful of. Otherwise, the man is not worth the snake’s concern, but he is prepared for any response nonetheless, observant but relaxed. The snake is also fair to the man, even after the man fetches a hoe to kill the snake with. “Quicker than I could strike, he shot into a dense bush and set up his rattling...shook his fair but furious signal...warning me that I had made an unprovoked attack (16-19)...” The snake gives the man one more chance to change his mind and turn away by hiding in the bushes. He does not want to fight the other if an altercation can be avoided entirely. He is willing to overlook the other’s mistake and forgive the man if he

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