Both protagonists had thought-through the deadly situation before undertaking it, however the reasons for their actions are very divergent. In “You Can’t Just Walk On By” the young boy decides to kill a sleeping water moccasin for something that can cause harm for him or anyone in his town. The young boy even states “ I, or somebody else. Might be...snakebit” (Deal 150). In contrast, in Gardner’s story the hostess, Mrs.Wynnes, did not harm the cobra; she remained calm and told a young boy to put a bowl of milk outside so the snake could leave the room with no harm(Gardner). In each case, although the motivations for killing wild creatures are antagonistic from one another, the creatures still become the victims of the characters. In both stories
