Snakes on a Page: Re-reading Monstrosity and Vulnerability in Selected Contemporary Fiction

Abstract This article offers a radical departure in the reading of monstrosity and vulnerability in selected contemporary fiction. By focusing on the representation of particularly vilified members of the natural world, namely snakes, I expose how the authors destabilize the boundaries between human vulnerability and animal monstrosity. These representational strategies facilitate readers’ engagement with the complicity of human characters in the violence that permeates the narrative arcs. More expansive and, I argue, more accurate readings of monstrosity enable us to move towards reckoning with the power of human characters to exert their will in destructive and cruel ways. This is a reckoning that is long overdue, and it is a crucial step towards more respectful engagement with the natural world. The texts that will form the foundation of the rest of the analysis are Stay and Fight (2019) by Madeline Ffitch, Reptile Memoirs (2022) by Silje Ulstein, and Blue Skies (2023) by T. C. Boyle, and I deploy strategically selected strands of Literary Animal Studies, Critical Animal Studies, Vegan Studies, and Monster Studies as the theoretical lens through which to read the novels. (JM)