Doe Season ~ Brook M. Wilken

In the short story, Doe Season, Andy appears to have a deep connection with nature, almost as though her surroundings are part of her being. She makes several references throughout the piece regarding the familiarity of the woods and the fact that she finds comfort among the forest. “They were the same woods that lay behind her house, and they stretch all the way to here… The thought made her feel good: it was like thinking of God” (465). The woods proved to be a source of refuge and peace. “Andy closed her eyes and, between beats of her heart, listened to the beating of the forest” (461). Andy was previously frightened by the concept of the ocean and its uncertainty. She correlated her experience at the ocean to be somewhat terrifying and even referred to the water as smelling of death. “If you swam, something could pull you under and you’d never be seen again. “Its musky, rank smell made her think of things dying” (459). As Andy made the decision to pull the trigger and shoot the doe, she had to confront her fears. She came to the realization that she was no longer innocent, nor was life as pure as the woods because of what she had done. She had to come to the realization that the woods, the same place that once gave her comfort, at times will also bring fear. “Yet louder than any of them was the wind blowing though the treetops, like the ocean where her mother floated in green water, also calling Come in, come in, while all around her roared the mocking of the terrible now inevitable, sea” (467). As she desired to be more accepted by the men during the hunting trip, she actually sacrificed a part of herself that she will never regain.