Snake

         Most of the people in this world think of snakes as dangerous animals, even me.  I thought the snake’s dangers and nobody could live with them. I have one friend back in my country. He invited me one day to his house. I reached his room and I saw many snakes’ pictures on the wall.  I asked him, “Why do you put snake pictures on your room?” He said, “I love them and I have a lot of them here in my room”. I said, “What!! Are you kidding me? That is impossible”.  I’m scared and want to leave, but he explains to me why he likes them. He said those snakes are like pets. Some of people in this world have pets in their houses. They take care of them and feet them. He said, “I don’t like cats and dogs. One day, I went from my house and I saw between my feet a small snake. I was scared and didn’t move. I thought he would hurt me, but he didn’t. The small snake take a few minutes wrap between my feet after that he left into a small hole near to my house. Day by day, I see him everyday and decide to touch him. I put my hand on the floor and he wrapped around my hand. I took him inside my room. And now I have 35 kinds of the snakes. I bought some of them from other countries.”       

           The poet wrote the poem to show readers how of some of people respect snakes. The poem “Snake” written by D.H. Lawrence shows us how the speaker who goes to get drink of a water because he is thirsty on a very hot day “On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat/To drink there”(Line 2-3).  He sees the snake drinking the water, too. The speaker waits. The snake is thirsty, too. He enjoys dinking water “ He sipped with his straight mouth.”(Line11) The poet describes how this snake looks to the man “ And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do.” The man remembers what his education tells him about the snakes. His education tells him the snakes must he killed “And voices in me said, if you were a man/You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.”(Line25-26) The man is afraid to kill the snake, but he is also honored by the snake’s presence: “And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid, /But even so, honoured still more/That he should seek my hospitality”(Line37-39). The speaker’s does not appear actions to kill the snake. “And yet those voices:/if you were not afraid, you would kill him.”(Line35-36). The poet shows us how this man is confused about killing the snake. The poet describes the man is situation from 37 lines to 40.

           The snake drank the water and left slowly without hurting the man. He goes to his hole. The man wants to drink but still afraid. He threw something in the water “ I picked up a clumsy log and threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.” (Line 56-66) He unhappy because throwing the log was mean: “ I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!” and became he allowed himself to be influence by his: “accursed human education”(Line65).  The snake is hurt and he just slides down a hole.

            The poet gives to us clear irony in this poem that the man decides to kill the snake but he didn’t do that. In the end of this poem the poet think how the people thought about the snakes. He wants remove what the people think about snakes and shows not all snakes can hurt us. There are a good snakes and bad one. In the last two lines the man questions himself as to why he thought that snakes should be killed, remove that voice from his mind:” And I have something to expiate/A pettiness”(Line 73-74).