It started with
a snake. Or rather, a photo of a snake, posted by a Facebook friend—a photo of
a large (6-7 foot) black rat snake that apparently found its way into her
shed.
Responses to
said photo ranged from “Eek!”, “Ewww!”, and “Yikes!” to the ever-popular “Why did
it have to be snakes?” This is a reaction with which I completely sympathize,
no doubt stemming from my early exposure to far too many National Geographic
specials featuring poisonous snakes. And
Rudyard Kipling’s classic story, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” brilliantly adapted by
Chuck Jones into an animated 1975 short.
The mated cobras Nag and Nagaina would give anyone nightmares.
My personal
interactions with snakes have been brief, harmless, and infrequent thus far,
which I fervently hope will continue to be the case. However, that didn’t stop
me from a near freak-out some years ago when I almost stepped on one, which was
lying across a footpath and doing its best impression of a broken twig. My
sandaled foot came down within an inch of its tail, and the snake shot off
across the grass as though galvanized, while my toes tried to crawl up my shins.
Don’t tread on me, indeed!
One of the most
famous ophidiaphobes is, of course, Indiana Jones. Who doesn’t remember him
blanching at the sight of a floor literally crawling
with vipers and rolling over onto his back, muttering, “Snakes… why did it have
to be snakes?” Amusing though that moment is, would Indy be as rootable or
relatable without that phobia? A character’s strengths make him (or her)
heroic. But a character’s flaws, quirks, fears, and hang-ups make him human.
Sometimes those
fears are played for comic effect, providing an opportunity for witty banter or
even a romantic clinch when the phobic character leaps into the non-phobic
character’s arms to avoid contact with the feared object.
At other times,
a character’s fears provide an opportunity for further heroics and personal
growth when he works to overcome those fears. Indiana Jones stifles his
ophidiaphobia to save himself and his heroine, Marion, from the snake-infested
Well of Souls. In a classic episode of
the sitcom M*A*S*H, Hawkeye and Margaret must work through his claustrophobia
and her fear of loud noises, first when their unit must evacuate to a cave and
then when they have to operate on a patient during a shelling. And in my first
historical romance, Waltz with a Stranger,
the heroine, Aurelia Newbold—crippled four years earlier in a fall from a horse—takes
a big step towards emotional recovery when she accepts a ride from the hero:
She
took a step towards Camborne, looked at James again. “It’s about time that I
tried, isn’t it?”
He felt his smile broadening. “Let me give you a leg up. It will be easier
for you to ride in front of me, dressed as you are.”
Aurelia nodded, and stepped closer to Camborne, now
standing as still as a horse sculpted in marble. Just before James moved to
help her mount, he thought he heard her say something under her breath; it
sounded like “Death to the little mouse.”
James nearly asked her to explain, but her face—taut with
concentration—stopped him. Instead, he
held out his interlaced hands and, as she set her foot in them, lifted her to
the saddle. She scrambled aboard
awkwardly, but settled in more quickly than he’d expected, adjusting her seat
and draping her skirts over the pommel. Her back was as straight as a lance,
her profile serene beneath her hat, though he suspected her heart was beating
at twice its normal rate.
Resisting the urge to cheer, he climbed into the saddle
behind her and took up the reins.
“Home,
Camborne,” he ordered, and urged the gelding into a trot.
***
Which of your
favorite characters has a significant phobia, and how is it handled?
PAMELA SHERWOOD
I love Indianan Jones and his snake phobia. I like snakes too. They're good for the environment and have a lot more to fear from us than we do from them. That said, I'm not a fan of crickets. I try to trap and release, but sometimes I close my eyes and hope they'll go away.
ReplyDeleteNot crazy about crickets myself, Shana. They tend to find their way into the house via the garage and scuttle about the baseboards seeking either light, water, or sex, and they make such a racket about it too.
ReplyDelete