The Serpents of Paradise- Samantha Wiktor
I think it is very interesting how Edward Abbey describes his encounter and experience with the snakes living around him. He sees them as equals or even superior to himself and even goes so far as to say he would rather “kill a man than a snake.” To me this seems too drastic. How can you value and put a human life above an animal? This is too extreme of a thought. The fact that someone can take a human life and set it to equal or less than a human’s life is inconceivable. I can understand how he might see a snake as a companion or in a strange way a friend just to keep company. But to compare a snake with a human life is too far. I think the right thing was to take care of the snakes and release them far away from his house. It was strange for me to see the way he treated snakes as friends and was so distraught when he came home from working only to find the snake had gone away. He treats these animals as his friends and the line is stretched further than just friends. He is overcome when he can’t find ‘his’ snake. It’s just too much when he takes the snake with him around on tours and allows it to be around other tourists. It mainly made me uncomfortable how much of an activist he was for the rights of animals and saying he would kill a human before a snake.
While I haven't per say experienced something like Abbey has, I do feel like I have gotten fairly close to the sensation. Abbey feels this deep connected with nature as if nature is right in front of him, like it’s a tangible thing. I remember when I went camping with my family for the first time. That experience was spectacular. I had never felt so in tune with nature. Nowadays most people have no idea the benefits of nature. The trees are so soothing, when the fresh natural air consumes you, it takes you to another dimension almost. However I must disagree with his intensity of the whole thing. Like when Abbey says "The gopher snake and I get along nicely...We are compatible." I am slightly taken back by that statement. He speaks of nature as if it an actual person...to see nature as almost an equal is an amazing thing, just not something I can connect to. Do I think it would be beneficial for people to experience something like Abbey? Sure I just don’t think many people could. What Abbey experienced was something so incredible, which not many people could obtain or reach. I completely agree with Clive Wynne it does diminish the whale. It plays into that humans are a superior species which is speciesism. Why would the whale have to think of the world as people who, not everything needs to follow the guidelines of human instinct and thought. If you ask me it's repressive and ignorant.
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