Doe Season
Doe SeasonOutline Thesis: Throughout "Doe Season," David Kaplan uses symbolism to carry Andy through her rite of passage into womanhood. I. Andy is unknowing as she ventures out on a hunting trip with her father. A. She leaves at night and arrives at her destination early in the morning. B. She comments on the space between where she was and the moon. II. Andy is maturing slowly as the story progresses. A. Andy carries her own pack. B. She drinks coffee imitating her father (holding the cup like he does.). C. Andy volunteers to go out alone to gather firewood. III. Andy has matured to the point of womanhood and is learning acceptance of herself. A. After Andy shot the deer, she had a dream that her hand was inside the bullet hole and the wound closed around her hand. B. Andy ran while her father was gutting the deer and no longer answered to Andy but Andrea. Published in 1985, David Kaplan's short story "Doe Season" is set in the Pennsylvania woods. This story reveals the trials and tribulations Andy, a dynamic character, goes through to reach her final destination of womanhood. Throughout "Doe Season," David Kaplan uses symbolism to carry Andy through her rite of passage into womanhood. Andy is unknowing as she ventures out on a hunting trip with her father. Early in the morning, Andy and her father are awaiting the arrival Mac and his son Charlie. The four of them are going hunting in the woods. Mac and Charlie finally arrive. After loading the car, the four of them begin their way into the woods. The woods were only several miles behind her house, but "it was like thinking of the space between here and the moon" (342). At daybreak, Andy awoke to find them riding over gentle hills in the Pennsylvania valley. They were almost there. It was almost time to begin hunting. The first portion of a rite of passage story is the character going into or approaching the unknown. In "Doe Season," the unknown is the woods. Andy and the crew leave when it is still dark out and arrive when it is daybreak. This symbolizes a new thing or a big change is going to occur. Later in the story, we learn of the big change that has occurred. Andy is maturing as the story progresses. As the crew first arrives at their destination, everyone is getting their gear ready. Andy carries her own pack. She also says to Mac, "I can carry a pack as big as yours any day" (344). This symbolizes that she is growing up and can do things for herself. After the group hunts for a bit, they stop to eat lunch. At lunch, the group eats bean soup prepared by Andy's mother. As Andy washed the lunch dishes, Charlie and her father drank a few swigs of some Jim Beam. Then they all had coffee, even Andy. Andy drank the coffee imitating the way...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.