Danielle Evans Snakes

When Life Slithers Back Danielle Evans’s fictional story, “Snakes,” portrays the miserable childhood of the narrator when she visits her maternal grandmother. The narrator became the victim of racial discrimination from her own grandmother which led to a painful childhood experience. Throughout the story, the narrator seems to be quite attached to ancient tradition, like the mythological vision of Burmese python, talismans as an ultimate cure of evil, and other ritual actions performed by the narrator that actually deepened the story. In the story, Tara, a nine-year-old biracial girl is often abused by her white grandmother. Before Tara’s visit to her grandmother, there were …show more content…
“Emblematically, the snake was in touch with the mysteries of the earth, the waters, darkness and the underworld – self-contained, cold blooded, secretive, sometimes venomous, able to glide swiftly without feet, magically swallow large creatures” (Snakes 445). The narrator was subconsciously falling to her fictional world of fear when she turns out to believe everything what her grandmother told her. She was so deep into her imagination that she became unable to stand her phobia. She was not just afraid of snakes but also afraid of open windows, peeling paint, creaking floorboards, sinks, bathtubs, and toilets too (Evans 42) So, she tries to defend herself by reading the books like Introduction to Rites and Rituals, and Talismans: A Photographic Record, which was provided by her parents. Although she tries to console herself from that illusion, subconsciously she was falling to her greatest fear. Thus, the snake sudden and unexpected manifestations became painful and dangerous interventions of her affairs (Jung …show more content…
“The underworld realm of the dead that snakes mythically inhabit is also the fecund ground from which new life emerges, a place of healing, initiation and revelation” (Snake” 196). Just like the snakes’ symbolism, the narrator, Tara, also experiences rebirth. Before she fell from the tree into the lake, Tara, was like a child who was haunted by her own illusion, who was abandoned by her own parents and the one who got abused by her own grandmother. But when she survived even after falling from tree, her life was totally changed. From that onward, whole new transformation was found in Tara as she felt no more fear of python, no more abuse from her grandmother, and no more abandon by her parent. It was just like a new life for her. “When the snake withdraws to shed its skin, signifying renewal, rebirth and immortality, the eye becomes milky…as though the serpent is entering a meditative state and has access to wisdom beyond our ken” (Jung 194). So, her new form of life can indicate her freedom from her grandmother just like that mythical snakes, which new life emerges by healing its past