The Snake (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Steinbeck
- First Published: 1936
- Type of Plot: Naturalistic
- Time of Work: The early 1930's
- Setting: Monterey, California
- Principal Characters: Dr. Phillips, An unnamed woman
- Genres: Short fiction, Naturalistic literature
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Snakes, Science or scientists, Depression, economic, 1930’s, California, West, U.S., Experiments, Biology or biologists, Marine biology
- Locales: Monterey, CA
The Story
Dr. Phillips, a marine biologist, enters his cramped laboratory on what is now Cannery Row in Monterey, California. White rats run about in their cages. Captive cats used in laboratory experiments meow, hungry for milk. A cage full of snakes, which seem to recognize Phillips, pull in their tongues.
Phillips lights his fire, sets a kettle of water on the stove, and drops his dinner, a can of beans, into it. He goes into his Spartan bedroom, removes his boots, and returns to the other room, where he empties a sack of starfish on the dissecting table, preparatory...
[The entire page is 1499 words long]
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