Symbolism In Doe Season

We are all fearful of life in some way, shape, or form. For each individual, that fear varies. In the short story, “Doe Season” written by David Michael Kaplan, the main protagonist, a young nine year old girl named Andy, goes on a hunting trip with her dad, her dad’s friend, Charlie, and his son Mac. Andy is on a journey that will forever change her as a young lady. As we go through life, we mature and age into young men and women. “Doe Season” uses symbolism throughout its story to convey Andy’s fear of evolving from a young girl to an adult woman. In the story, the author mentions the woods where Andy lives, It is a very familiar and comforting place. A place that stretches far as she can see. The author writes, “They were the same woods

Andy spots the doe in the woods and is very hesitant to shoot it. In relation to that she may hesitant to grow up and face adulthood. The author describes this hesitation by writing, “But now, seeing it in the scope, Andy was hesitant. Her finger weakened on the trigger” (405). This symbolizes uncertainty and her fearing what will happen if she kills the doe. She was unsure if she wanted to take that step. When she did take the step, she shot the doe in the gut and it got up and ran off. Later, she had a nightmare about the doe. In the nightmare, Andy sees the doe that she shot. It comes up to her, she pets it, touches the wound and eventually her hands ends up inside of it until she finds the heart. “Andy tried to remove her hand but the wound closed about it and held her fast. Her hand was burning. She cried out in agony, sure they would all hear and come help, but they didn’t” (407). All of this terrifies her just like the fear of adulthood. Andy shooting the doe was like her killing her innocence as a young woman and experiencing the doe’s death made her flee the scene. She said she would no longer be Andy. She would be Andrea. At this moment, she knew that growing into a young woman was as inevitable as her waking and sleeping. All in all, “Doe Season” is a short story that symbolizes a young girl trying to come to grips with maturing into a young woman. She steps out of her comfort zone by expanding beyond the woods she is so familiar with, reminisces about her mom, and how she may look as a young mature woman. Taking a doe’s life, she runs away frightened of what she had done. She knows what all this means. Through Andy’s several encounters that day, she realizes evolving is part of life, and adulthood is something that cannot be