Alligator Character Analysis

Alligator, the family “snake-dog,” attempts to kill the snake at the beginning of the story but is unable to catch it; as he attempts to burrow under house in pursuit of the reptile, the bushwoman restrains him because she knows that they “cannot afford to lose him.” The family’s reliance on Alligator reflects humankind’s broader reliance on the natural world even as it seeks to dominate it. At the same time, however, the fact that Alligator is domesticated and seeks to protect his human owners could suggest the breadth of humanity’s power to control nature. Indeed, the dog successfully catches and kills the snake at the end of the story, thereby saving the family.