Similarities Between 'Doe Season And Yolanda From Snow'

As humans one usually adapts to change, while some learn from mistakes they’ve made. Both Andy from “Doe Season” and Yolanda from “Snow” feel excluded from situations; it is something they both struggle with. In “Doe Season,” Andy goes hunting for the first time with her father, his friend Charlie, and Charlie’s son, Mac. Throughout the story we see Andy struggle with many things, including killing an animal. For Yolanda, in “Snow” she is a recent immigrant from the Dominican Republic living in New York City who must learn of a new culture while also struggling to learn a new language.

Being female in and male dominated field can be difficult. With Andy from “Doe Season” one can see that her struggle is more internal; a battle within the mind.

She feels like she might not belong as she goes hunting with her father and his friends. During this trip Andy is pressured into shooting a doe by Charlie as he hisses “Shoot!” (Kaplan 404). You can tell by how her finger weakens on the trigger before she shot the gun that she was reluctant to harm a creature so innocent (404). Her shooting the gun and the doe getting hit but still escaping haunts her as she tries to sleep (406-407). She also has trouble dealing with the fact that she will never be "one of the guys". Charlie comments on this at the beginning of the trip, asking why she was there (396). Mac adds to this outsider feeling when he mentions that Andy will never have a "pecker" (400). After having shot the doe, she has a hard time believing what she had done and immediately regretting it as both the doe and her literally run away (405, 408). In running away, Andy deepens her exclusion from the situation at hand. She believes that running away might resolve her internal battle, but in reality she just realizes that she will never fit in with men because she is a woman. No matter how much she tries to avoid there will come a time when Andy will have to face the inevitable.

As for the short story “Snow”, Yolanda’s struggle is more external, a language barrier and a different culture.

Although, she too is made to be an outsider because her teacher, Sister Zoe, gave her a “special” seat at the front of the room away from the rest of her class (Alvarez). Sister Zoe had done this to make it easier for her to be able to tutor Yolanda and not disturb the rest of the class (Alvarez). This excluded Yolanda from the rest of her class and added another obstacle to her integration into the American society. Her fellow classmates already know that she is different from them and this added distance make them even less likely to interact with her. Taking place in the 1960’s, Sister Zoe explains to her class what happens when a bomb goes off and its nuclear fallout by drawing on her chalkboard (Alvarez). Later on, Yolanda looks out of the window to see little white specks falling from the sky, little white specks that look just like the ones her teacher had drawn on the board when she was explaining the picture of a bomb; not knowing any better she screams “Bomb!” (Alvarez). This instance highlights her lack of understanding for her new surroundings. As her class erupts into a frenzy, Sister Zoe explains to that it was just snow, which leaves Yolanda fascinated (Alvarez). Having been brought up in the Caribbean Yolanda would’ve never see snow before. Her struggle of not being able to distinguish between snow and the fallout of a bomb heightens how strange

America must be for her.

These two little girls struggle with different things in different ways, but they both show how humans deal with situations and change. Andy runs away, or at least attempts to, and is haunted by what she has done. She is more avoidant than Yolanda, though her internal battle is impossible to evade since it comes from within. Yolanda learns from her mistake and grows in her understanding of the world around her. She confronts her external battle head on and takes in what she has learned. Two little girls with two immensely different approaches to two similar situations of exclusion and change in environment.

Even the two most different of people can have some aspect in common. Just as Andy and Yolanda, we as a whole grow and change as a result of the situation we are placed. They shape who we are now and who we will become. No matter whether the battle is within you or around you, it is still a battle and all must deal with it in some way. Some humans run, some learn, but all adapt as a part of who we are. You will adapt, but will you run or will you learn?