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Analysis of "Doe Season" Essay

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Analysis of “Doe Season” The short story, “Doe Season” written by David Michael Kaplan is about a young girl’s loss of innocence and hesitation towards womanhood. In this story, the protagonist, an eight year old girl joins in on a hunting trip with her father and some friends. During this trip, Andy learns that being one of the boys may not be what she aspires after all. A few literary elements Kaplan uses helps readers better understand the story while reading such as, the characters, setting, and symbolism. Andy ventures out on a hunting trip with her father, her father’s friend, Charlie and Charlie’s son, Mac. Not every character in the story signifies something special, but a few do. Andy, the protagonist is a young, eight year …show more content…

Also, when Andy thinks of her mother and the sea she is frightened. The sea resembles the world and adulthood and how large of a mystery it can be. The sea also reminds her of her mother and the time the tide washed away her mother’s bathing suit top to reveal her breasts. Andy knows that one day she is going to look like her mother and is going to grow into a woman and no longer be this little girl. The title of the story plays a big role in symbolism as well. Doe season is when hunters are allowed to kill female deer. In the story, Andy is the target of male ridicule in a patriarchal environment. When she shoots the doe and realizes it is not dead, she is sacrificing her womanhood for a sense of power among her father and the other men. She is haunted by her sacrifice and that night is visited by an owl and the doe she had shot. The next day when she sees that the doe is dead, she realizes her inner truth and realizes that she no longer wants to be Andy, but her true self, Andrea. Andy now understands that growing up and becoming who she is truly meant to be is inevitable. “while all around her roared the mocking of the terrible, now inevitable, sea” (523). “Doe Season” is a great coming-of-age story. It deals with the struggle of a young woman not wanting to face the terrible fear of reality. Kaplan uses elements to help the reader better understand the story. These are the building blocks of the story.

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