Jet Kennedy Professor Chambers ENGL 1102 1TG 5 April 2024.
Love Through Danger In “Badeye” by Ron Rash (2014), Badeye is used as a symbol of danger. Through Badeye, Rash is able to highlight the concern and love that is expressed by the main character’s parents. Badeye is shown as a symbol of danger through a description of his appearance. Additionally, Badeye’s entire character is built around his businesses which prey on individual addictions, connecting with many indirect metaphors throughout the story. Badeye eventually puts the narrator in danger and nearly kills him, becoming the danger he initially symbolizes. In the first paragraph of “Badeye,” Badeye is described as having a “serpent tattoo on his shoulder” (Rash 1). This immediately connects Badeye with the idea of danger, as serpents have been…show more content… The wives of the community dislike Badeye because of these businesses. While the children and husbands find their hatred annoying, it is clear that the wives dislike Badeye out of love and concern for their families. Towards the end of the narrative, Badeye becomes the danger the story consistently warns the narrator and reader about. Using the highly venomous North American Coral Snake, Badeye bribes the narrator into taking moonshine to a nearby neighbor in the middle of the night. After previously taking a sip of the moonshine, the narrator mishandles the extremely venomous snake and gets bit, nearly dying to the same symbol that is present throughout the entire story. Upon this near-death moment, the narrator's parents come to the rescue. They immediately get the narrator to the hospital and ultimately save his life. Following these events, the family’s dynamic with Badeye changes. The main character stops accepting snow cones, and Badeye is no longer a part of their life. Additionally, the main character gets rid of his snake collection. These actions serve to validate the feelings of the mother,
