With Katrina's three options to appease the town's curse — kill herself, kill someone else, or let her daughter die — the film backs her into a tight, and terrifying, spot. Her daughter's death means the loss of an innocent child. Killing a stranger puts even greater ethical questions up in the air, I.E., can one choose who is worth living or dying? Even when given the opportunity to do so when she comes across a dying man in the hospital, Katrina can't force herself to go through with it.
She eventually chooses her target in the aforementioned Billy, once she learns of his abusive tendencies. She gets him to drive her to a remote part of the desert, but he escapes. At this point, with the sun about to set, she tries to kill herself. Just as she starts, the rattlesnake bites Billy, she finishes the job, and saves her daughter. The end sees Katrina driving away, passing Billy's tormented soul hitchhiking on the side of the road. Katrina repeats the words, "I, I, I..." to herself as the film ends.
This final struggle places Katrina in a difficult place, where she faces a great moral dilemma. Killing herself is the most selfless act in this scenario, but understandably, that's not an easy decision to make for anyone, let alone a worried mother. Her attempt at self-sacrifice is rewarded when the snake bites Billy. And her repeating "I" as the film's closing lines reinforces the importance of the fight for self-survival. Is there such a thing as a "right" choice? Or was this always the way? Either way, this question leaves viewers of "Rattlesnake" with a victorious, yet haunting impression, that lingers after the credits.
