Summary Of William Stafford's 'Traveling Through The Dark'

Death and Darkness On A Narrow Road According to State Farm, the average amount of collisions caused by deer is estimated at 1.23 million and about 200 fatalities a year. These accidents cost more than $4 billion in vehicle damage. In William Stafford’s “Traveling Through the Dark,” a driver encounters a dead pregnant doe in the middle of the road he was traveling. He had to act wisely so that he could prevent further accidents from happening since the doe was laying in the road. So, he decided to push the pregnant doe into the river below. Although the speaker’s actions might appear inhumane, the speaker made the ethical choice by pushing the dead pregnant doe into the river because he saves the fawn from suffering, the conditions were not suitable for saving a fawn, and he potentially saved the lives of many drivers. First, the speaker saves the fawn from unspeakable suffering. As soon as the speaker encounters or learns the doe is pregnant, he knows there is no way to save the fawn. The speaker says, “her fawn lay there waiting,/ alive, still, never to be born.” The speaker

The author states, “to swerve might make more dead.” The speaker did not want to put any other lives in danger so he decided to stop his car and try to move the doe out of the way. In addition, the author says, “I thought hard for us all.” He had to think of the human lives involved with the pregnant doe lying in the road. Oncoming traffic could have hit the doe again and caused an even worse accident. However, the doe was removed to save other people’s lives. By saying that “It is usually best to roll them into the canyon,” the speaker confesses he has experience with removing dead deer from the road. He made the decision he felt was best, to roll the doe off the cliff. He knows the possibility is great for people hitting the dead doe and causing more accidents so, he did what he felt was best in this