"Doe Season"

The passage when Charlie Spoon says “She’ll just add to the noise and get tired besides (Kaplan p. 457), then Andy’s father says “No, she won’t. She can walk me to death. And she’ll bring could luck, you’ll see (Kaplan p.457).” I think that was the passage that I like the best because Andy’s father is not ashamed to have her with, and he stands up for her when he could’ve have just agreed with Charlie Spoon. The passage that I didn’t like was the one about Andy’s father joking with Charlie Spoon and Mac about Andy being a boy or a girl, “Hell, you might as well just had a boy and be done with it!” Charlie exclaimed. “That’s funny,” her father said, and chuckled. “That’s just what her momma tells me.” They were looking at her, and she wanted to get away from them all, even from her father, who chose to joke with them (Kaplan p.463).” I didn’t really like that passage because in the beginning her father stood up for her now he is just joking with the other guys.

Doe Season

I found this story very interesting. A nine year old girl not quite ready it seems to choose between femininity and masculinity. Andy's father seems to want a son or boy to do masculine things like hunting together. Andy remembers going to see the ocean with her mother and father and how her father was not as consumed by the ocean as her mother was. I think in this story the ocean may symbolize her mother and femininity and the forest and hunting may symbolize masculinity and her father. On page 459 Andy remembers her trip to Jersey and the ocean as being awkward. This is maybe to say she is too young and awkward to find comfort in womanhood yet. Andy trying to find her way finds herself on a hunting trip with her proud father. Andy is fine with the trip for the most part until she shoots a doe but the supposed dead doe gets up and runs. This causes Andy to dream in a way that allows her to feel the pain the deer feels. On page 466 where it is said that Andy's arm is engulfed by the shot gun wound of the deer. And later when the gutting of the deer begins Andy runs. I believe Andy is being pulled by her parents to choose their desires but in the end Andy finds that she does not like the Jersey ocean side nor does she like hunting. Maybe all Andy would like is the approval of both her parents and to fit in. Not because she is a girl but because she is human; male or female. On page 467 it is stated that she would no longer be called Andy. I think this is of her choosing. It could be that the hunting trip had obscured her from trying to be her dad's son and instead to be herself.

The Lottery

My first impressions of this story were interesting. The title lead me to believe that this was going to be a drawing for money throughout the community. As I was reading I noticed the way the story kept talking about the black box that contained all the names. It seemed to be important for the people that the box contained original things from the box that was used to first start this lottery. As all the town people started gathering it seemed as people weren't scared and they all came as they were supposed to. I noticed that it was important that the men of the family drew the name out of the black box. One case of a man not being able to make it lead the wife to be able to draw for him. As I kept reading the whole situation played out equal to me. They all did the same thing and it seemed very organized. When they called the Hutchinson family and Tessie started yelling that it wasn't fair and that there wasn't enough time to take any paper her husband wanted I then realized that this wasn't a lottery for money. I started to wonder what kind of a bad lottery it could be. It wasn't until the end of the story that I realized the intent of the story. I never would have thought it was a murder. That is what I gathered out of it. The people used the stones the children gathered to kill whoever was chosen out of the black box. I really didn't understand why and how the children can play this role in this lottery.