Orwell, Marx, and the Snake

Comments   0   Date Arrow  August 9, 2023 at 5:24pm   User  by Mark Willis

George Orwell wrote in his diary on August 9, 1938:

Caught a large snake in the herbaceous border beside the drive. About 2’ 6” long, grey colour, black markings on belly but none on back except, on the neck, a mark resembling an arrow head (ñ) all down the back. Did not care to handle it too recklessly, so only picked it up by extreme tip of tail. Held thus it could nearly turn far enough to bite my hand, but not quite. Marx [Orwell's dog] interested at first, but after smelling it was frightened & ran away. The people here normally kill all snakes. As usual, the tongue referred to as “fangs”.

Tagged   1930s · Orwell · snakes

0 Comments

  • There are no comments yet, be the first by filling in the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.