Analysis Of William E Stafford's 'Traveling Through The Dark'

In a single year deer cause the death of 200 people and four billion dollars in damage (insurancejournal.com). This all could be prevented if people just took the time to move the deer off the road. This could save the lives of many.This is exactly what the speaker in William E Stafford's “Traveling through the dark” is going through. Although it may appear cruel to some people the speaker's choice to push the doe over the cliff because it prevents human deaths and it saved the fawn from unnecessary suffering.

Furthermore,the speaker's decision saves the fawn from unimaginable pain..The speaker says “she had stiffened already almost cold.” This quote is important because their is no peaceful way for the fawn to be born without the doe. It

also says that the doe is already dead .The speaker would have to cut the fawn out. Possibly cutting into the fawn by accident .The poem also says “Her fawn lay there alive, still, never to be born.” This quote tells us that even if the fawn was saved what were its chances of survival in the wild. Animales typically don't survive in the wild without their parents.Cutting the fawn out of the doe could result in complications and could cause the fawn to die a painful death. We can tell this when the speaker says “ I thought hard for us all.” In the quote us all means he is thinking about the greater good of people as well. This quote directly tells the reader that it was a hard choice. Although he did push the doe off the edge of the canyon he saved the lives of future drivers by removing the dead doe from the road, making sure no one would have to dodge the body and possibly harming anyone else. The speaker did not want to abandon the fawn but he had no other choice. We could save the lives of over 200 people and billions of dollars if people would realize the necessity of moving dead deer off the road. That is why the speaker in “Traveling Through the Dark”made the right decision to push the doe over the cliff. The speaker sacrificed the life of one fawn to prevent lethal accidents from happening in the future. The speaker also didn't want the fawn to live a miserable life without a mother. Because the speaker decided to act and remove the dead doe, one fortunate is going to make it home safe to their family.