"Doe Season"

In David Kaplan’s “Doe Season” there is a young girl named Andy that accidently reaches a growing point in her life while hunting with her father and friends. She refers to the woods they are hunting in as “always the same.” While in the woods, Andy remembers the ocean she visited with her parents. “It was huge and empty, yet always moving. Everything lay hidden.” (Kaplan, p. 459) When we are children, there is a sense of security in knowing where our next meal will come from and that there will be clothes on our backs. But, going into adulthood, we soon come to realize that we are now taking care of ourselves. It’s a huge change and it happens quite abruptly.

I believe Andy is very unsure of the world around her, as was I at age 9. There is a nation full of mystery, yet, most we can’t see with our eyes. This is a lot like the ocean. It seems so empty, but there is a whole new depth of life living there, we just can’t see it. I felt this way change and new places as a child and still do sometimes. There is so much in this world that we don’t know about; it’s a scary thought.

By Andy referring to the woods as “always the same” tells me that it’s a comforting place for her to be. She grew up in these woods, they don’t frighten her. But, by the end of the story, as her doe is being gut out right before her eyes, everything changes. She no longer will look at the woods the same and this is where her transition occurred. Andy is no longer a little girl anymore and she knows it. She has seen death, and there is a world full of new things for her to face next.