Doe Season Q. 3

In the story Doe Season, Andy often refers to the woods as being always the same. This symbolizes the way a child can look home to find comfort that is unchanging. She has been, all her life, able to turn to her mother and her father for that comfort and support, something that she depends on. She also refers to the ocean as being unknown and ever-changing, describes being able to only see the surface, but not what you might step on if you put your foot in. This reference symbolizes adulthood. As adults, we don't have that familiar comfort to turn to, we are in a world that is ever changing and mysterious. Often, in the adult world, something might appear to be a good idea until you put your foot in and step into a heap of trouble. Throughout the story, Andy thinks she smells the ocean, although it's hundreds of miles away. This is a way of saying that she senses change coming, but she continues to doubt the approaching adulthood. The very end of the story goes on to further emphasize this comparison by describing her running away from the familiar people on the hunting trip while "all around her roared the mocking of the terrible, now inevitable, sea".