Traveling Through the Dark by William Stafford

1097 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of life essay

Traveling Through the Dark by William Stafford

In his poem, "Traveling Through the Dark," William Stafford presents the reader with the difficulty of one man's choice. Immediately, the scene is set, with the driver, who is "traveling though the dark" (line 1) coming upon a recently killed deer. At first, his decision with what to do with the deer is easy; he knows he must push it off the edge for the safety of other motorists, but then, a closer examination of the deer reveals to the man new circumstances. His decision is now perplexing, and his course of action is unclear. Through his use of metaphor, symbolism, and personification, Stafford alludes to the difficult decisions that occur along the road of life, and the consequences that are a result from those decisions. With the use of these stylistic devices, William Stafford illuminates death as a consequence of certain decisions.

To illustrate the theme of death, Stafford presents a metaphor relating the literal road to the road of life. In the first stanza, the road is described; it is narrow and is called the "Wilson river Road" (line 2). Also, the reader gets the sense that the road is very dark, and thus isolated. The only illuminated section of this road is the stretch that the man is currently travelling. Symbolically, this represents the present in the man?s life. The road that has already been traveled symbolizes the past. The man is unable to see it because of the darkness; yet, it is implanted in his memory through his experiences. Furthermore, the man literally cannot see farther ahead on this road, only as far as the headlights will allow. Likewise, the future in our lives is yet to be discovered. As one can see, Stafford?s metaphorical desc...

... middle of paper ...

...g into account all factors. This personification adds to the development of the poem, and illustrates how we are all influenced in our decisions.

Through his explanation and description throughout this poem, Stafford creates the image of the road of life and illustrates how the decisions we make are all interrelated and have consequences. "Travelling Through the Dark" reveals the difficulty in life, and the difficulty in properly dealing with problems that naturally occur as one progresses along the path of life. The biggest roadblock that can occur along this progression is death, which must be properly dealt with, as William Stafford proves by way of his uses of metaphor, symbolism, and personification.

Works Cited:

Stafford, William. ?Traveling Through the Dark.? Sound and Sense. Eighth edition. Ed. Laurence Perrine. Orlando: Harcourt Brace, 1992.

Show More
Related

  • Under A Cruel Star By Heda Margolious Kovaly

    1367 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Under a Cruel Star, Heda Margolious Kovaly details the attractiveness and terror of Communism brought to Czechoslovakia following WWII. Kovaly’s accounts of how communism impacted Czechoslovakia are fascinating because they are accounts of a woman who was skeptical, but also seemed hopeful for communism’s success. Kovaly was not entirely pro-communism, nor was she entirely anti-communism during the Party’s takeover. By telling her accounts of being trapped in the Lodz Ghetto and the torture she faced in Auschwitz, Kovaly displays her terror experienced with a fascist regime and her need for change. Kovaly said that the people of Czechoslovakia welcomed communism because it provided them with the chance to make up for the passivity they had let occur during the German occupation. Communism’s appeal to

    Read More

  • Into the Wild by Christopher Johnson McCandless

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book, Into the wild, takes us into the world of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless. He travelled across the western United States from 1990 to 1992, and on April 28, 1992, he started his last adventure and walked into the wilds of Alaska. About 112 days later, he died of starvation. Unsurprisingly, public opinion polarized on his behavior. Some may admire his courage and noble ideals, though some regard him as an idiotic and arrogant narcissist. Although he died on his way to find the truth and back to nature, I believe that Chris McCandless should be considered as a hero, but I cannot completely approve of all his behaviors.

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In The Road By Mccarthy Mccarthy

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    Set in a post-apocalyptic future, The Road describes a father and son’s fight for their lives as they journey the road south for the winter. An unknown catastrophe has plagued the world, leaving hell on Earth for all who inhabit it. Rotting corpses, abandoned homes, and devastated landscapes are an everyday sight. Worst of all, human beings have reverted back to barbarism, leaving humanity and any sense of morals behind. Critics argue that The Road has “no plotline or story arc of character development” (165). Although even though The Road explains nothing, it actually explains everything. In fact, the novel consists of deeper meanings intended for readers to uncover themselves. In particular, the road itself is a major symbolic aspect of the

    Read More

  • All Souls by Michael MacDonald

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Michael MacDonald’S All Souls is a heart wrenching insider account of growing up in Old Country housing projects located in the south of Boston, also known as Southie to the locals. The memoir takes the reader deep inside the world of Southie through the eyes of MacDonald. MacDonald was one of 11 children to grow up and deal with the many tribulations of Southie, Boston. Southie is characterized by high levels of crime, racism, and violence; all things that fall under the category of social problem. Social problems can be defined as “societal induced conditions that harms any segment of the population. Social problems are also related to acts and conditions that violate the norms and values found in society” (Long). The social problems that are present in Southie are the very reasons why the living conditions are so bad as well as why Southie is considered one of the poorest towns in Boston. Macdonald’s along with his family have to overcome the presence of crime, racism, and violence in order to survive in the town they consider the best place in the world.

    Read More

  • Explication of Mary Oliver’s “The Black Snake”

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    This poem is divided into six stanzas with four lines each. The poem opens with “When the black snake flashed on the morning road” (1-2). The narrator uses “when” to signify the beginning of the story and introduces the snake as the main character. Labeling the snake as “black” gives it a dark and sinister appeal. The word “flashed” is used to demonstrate how fast the snake moved, and how quickly this event occurred. “Morning” is applied to the time of day that this event occurred. The narrator sees the snake quickly flash across the road. This sets up the scene in our minds. The “truck could not swerve” (3) implies that this was an accidental death. The poet uses “truck” to suggest a big vehicle that is unable to make quick moves or sudden stops. The narrator sees the snake flash across the road, into the path of a big truck that is unable to stop or swerve. “Death, that is how it happens” (4). The word “death” is italicized, emphasizing its importance. The p...

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of 'My Fear' By Lawrence Raab

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the end, the journey the speaker embarked on throughout the poem was one of learning, especially as the reader was taken through the evolution of the speakers thoughts, demonstrated by the tone, and experienced the images that were seen in the speaker’s nightmare of the personified fear. As the journey commenced, the reader learned how the speaker dealt with the terrors and fears that were accompanied by some experience in the speaker’s life, and optimistically the reader learned just how they themselves deal with the consequences and troubles that are a result of the various situations they face in their

    Read More

  • West with the Night, by Beryl Markham

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    Beryl Markham’s West with the Night is a collection of anecdotes surrounding her early life growing up as a white girl in British imperialist Africa, leading up to and through her flight across the Atlantic Ocean from East to West, which made her the first woman to do so successfully. Throughout this memoir, Markham exhibits an ache for discovery, travel, and challenge. She never stays in one place for very long and cannot bear the boredom of a stagnant lifestyle. One of the most iconic statements that Beryl Markham makes in West with the Night is:

    Read More

  • Dancing in The Dark by Morris Dickstein

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ronald Reagan once said, “We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won.” I read the book, Dancing in the dark by Morris Dickstein. This book was about the great depression, and the impacts it had on American life. The traditional thought of poverty, people dying of hunger and people lying in the roads, has been erased. America has abolished poverty by the traditional standards but the thought of poverty and what it is has changed. In America we consider poverty to be spending all your money on bills, so you have no money left for food to feed your family. We consider poverty to be just being poor. One-Third of our population makes less than $38,000. This is not enough to be able to be above the poverty line. Anything below this “line” is considered being poverty. How do they decide this line? They take the cost of a very basic diet, and they multiply it by three, for a family of three. That being said, One-half of the jobs in America pay below $38,000 a year, so no wonder we are losing the war on poverty.

    Read More

  • Nightfather by Carl Friedman

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Running and screaming. Burning and freezing. The survivors of the Holocaust have been through it all. Their stories describe each and every detail of the horrendous events they experienced. Although the book Nightfather is fiction, the stories described depict the actual Holocaust exactly. By dissecting the time period of Carl Friedman’s Nightfather, a reader can understand the elements of fiction and realize the impact of history on fictional literature.

    Read More

  • Compare Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night And Because I Could Not Wait For Death

    1435 Words  | 3 Pages

    The two poems, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas and, “Because I Could Not Wait for Death”, by Emily Dickinson, we find two distinct treatments on the same theme, death. Although they both represent death, they also represent it as something other than death. Death brings about a variety of different feelings, because no two people feel the same way or believe the same thing. The fact that our faith is unknown makes the notion of death a common topic, as writers can make sense of their own feelings and emotions and in the process hope to make readers make sense of theirs too. Both Dickinson and Thomas are two well known and revered poets for their eloquent capture of these emotions. The poems both explore death and the

    Read More

  • The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the surface the poem seems to be a meditation on past events and actions, a contemplative reflection about what has gone on before. Research into the poem informs us that the poem is written with a sense of irony

    Read More

  • The Influences of Playwright Eugene O’Neill

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Long Day's Journey into Night.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .

    Read More

  • How Does William Stafford Use Figurative Language In Traveling Through The Dark

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone has experienced some dilemma when he/she had to choose whether to take responsibility or ignore a situation. William Stafford expressed that impasse in his poem "Traveling Through the Dark." This poem is mainly about the difficulty of choice between a morally right thing to do or the opposite one. Stafford was creative in the use of literary devices and with the use of figurative language he allowed the reader to think deeply of his/her actions, thoughts, and the feelings.

    Read More

  • Self Concept Through Interpersonal Communication

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    D. W. Hamlyn - author. Publisher: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Place of Publication: Sensation and Perception: A History of the Philosophy of Perception. Contributors: London. Publication Year: 1961. Page Number: iii.

    Read More

  • Metaphors in The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two roads presented in this poem represent difficult decisions we are faced with in life. He uses the relationship between the paths and real life decisions throughout the whole poem. This is an example of extended metaphor, which is used to help the readers understand the analogy between the two. The man in the poem said: “long I stood” (3), which lets us know the decision was not made instantly. It was hard for the man to make a final judgment.

    Read More

More about Traveling Through the Dark by William Stafford

Open Document