snake is a poem that has unique way of dealing with the moral consciousness of society
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In D.H. Lawrence’s poem ‘Snake’ the poet describes his encounter with a snake in physical, emotional and moral terms. He successfully uses the physical settings and chain of events to throw light on his state of moral being. The poet has presented the complexities of moral consciousness adeptly, in the form of a short poem. His skill lies in the manner in which he has conveyed so much in a few lines. The poem is a thought provoking one.
When the speaker first spots the reptile at the water trough, he behaves in a natural and unprejudiced manner. He does not disturb the snake and waits for his turn. As humans are naturally curious, he is filled with fascination and simply looks on. However, soon enough, the ‘educated’ aspect of his personality reminds him about the dangers that a snake can pose. As a result, he attempts to hit the snake. That one act gives the poem its depth, for it forces the speaker to introspect and brings out various aspects of moral consciousness.
While education thrives on logic and reasoning, it is ironically at loggerheads with moral consciousness. The speaker’s understanding of snakes suggests that certain varieties are ‘harmless’ while yet others are venomous and potentially dangerous. This prompts him to act violently, thus raising questions about how subjective humans are in setting and enforcing morality. There are no set norms that define when a snake should be or should not be killed. Similarly, a human would probably not be held accountable for killing a snake despite it not having caused any harm. This further raises concerns over the whether moral consciousness also deals with the issue of humans having the right to kill other creatures or not.
At another level, the speaker feels torn between wanting to simply stand and stare and being compelled to act. Though at a personal level, he considers the creature a ‘god’, he is forced to act like ‘a man’. Here too, the accepted tenets of moral consciousness are not in sync with personal desire. In order to be normal, societal norms urge him to attack the snake. It immediately fills him with remorse. This suggests a strong disconnect between the established norms of society and moral consciousness. Had the act been morally right, the poet would not have felt so much negativity later.
It is extremely difficult to clearly lay down any guidelines for what is ethical and what is not, an idea that D.H. Lawrence has handled with great dexterity.
Snake is a poem by D.H Lawrence. The irony of this poem is that this poem has to no interaction between a snake and a man. Actually,in this poem a snake takes a look at how human beings deal with their problems. In this poem, a man sees a snake and he as he has been always taught that snakes are dangerous and ugly, thinks the same when he sees the snake. He was taught to kill a snake the voices in his head tells him to kill a snake because that is a normal thing to do. Basically, the narrator has taken an example of a snake to explain other morally acceptable issues and how you are taught to do a certain thing when you should be using your mind to do a certain thing. The poem talks about today's society and the problems we face everyday; that if something is different you should kill it and do what everyone is doing and what our society taught us to do.