The Rattler

Every threatening obstacle can be avoided by just walking away and not paying attention to it. A man chooses to walk in the wild desert where undomesticated animals, like snakes, inhabit, and where humans do not typically live. In the desert, the man encounters a venomous rattlesnake. He decides to kill the rattlesnake because of the danger it poses to other people, without considering that he is invading the snake’s territory and snake is not invading his. The author of the short passage The Rattler leads the reader to feel sympathy for the snake and disappointment for the man through language and details about the snake and man. Language and details about the snake lead the reader to feel sympathy for the snake. In the beginning, the man goes “into the desert” for a “walk”. The man leaves his home and territory and goes into a foreign territory. Goodman finishes her criticism of Phil through describing his family relationships. Goodman starts with Phil’s wife “already have” missing him when he was still alive (lines 40-41). Phil’s wife has such a distant relationship with Phil, she feels he left her before he even died. When Phil married this woman, he committed himself to her forever as a permanent companion as part of the marital bond between people. During his life, he commits his personal life to his work, which can be done at lower levels of intensity, instead of spending quality time with his wife, who he needs to spend time with as part of