John Steinbeck, “The Snake”

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In an attempt to record the composition details of his short story “The Snake”, John Steinbeck wrote about the events in the essay “About Ed Ricketts” which was published in the 1951 edition of

The Log from the Sea of Cortez

. In his memoir, Steinbeck recalls the events of the story and relates actual historical occurrences that happened in Ricketts’ biological laboratory, and which his close friend told to him “just as it happened”. As the author tries to set down the event, he claims its accuracy and simultaneously asserts a non-teleological approach that refuses to speculate either on the causes or the effects of what Ricketts told him. Nonetheless, other eye-witnesses to the event suggest that some of the details of the story have been transformed or modified by Steinbeck…

1598 words

Citation: Meyer, Michael J.. "“The Snake”". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 November 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=25293, accessed 19 March 2024.]

25293 “The Snake” 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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