Your life, or the life of another? That is a choice that two characters are forced to make in The Rattler. In the creation of this passage, the author sets up a situation where a man and a snake are forced to make this tough decision. The writer shows understanding and sensitivity to the actions that are eventually taken by both the rattler and the man. In this passage the author suggests sympathy for man and snake through details about the setting, the man and the snake.
The author suggests compassion for the man and snake through details about the setting. In the first paragraph of the passage pleasant details in the dessert are presented, which are sadly disrupted for both man and snake. At the end of the day, the man takes his "first pleasant moment for a walk after the long blazing hours." For him, this moment is enjoyable and relaxing as he was escaping the grind of daily life back at the ranch. His pleasant stroll does not include any sort of weapon, as he is not out hunting. This moment is intended to be enjoyed alone; he "thought [he] was the only thing abroad." When he senses that he is not the only one out in the desert he "abruptly stops short." This sudden realization is not only shocking, but makes the man uncomfortable. His walk looses its pleasantness as he comes across a "rattler [who] felt no necessity of getting out of anybody's path." As the two meet they watch each other intently; the man waiting see what the snake would do, the snake "waiting for [him] to show [his] intentions." For a moment neither the snake nor the man move, each aware of the tenseness this chance meeting is creating. The man and snake have come to a crossroads, and due to this unfortunate timing each has a difficult choice to make. The man must decide whether to leave the snake be, or to work in the best interests of the unsuspecting women and children back at the ranch and kill the rattler.
