Tragedy In William E. Stafford's 'Traveling Through The Dark'

Pushing away a life of Tragedy
According to hcn.org in 2005 the number of annual animal-vehical accidents is 253,000 and 90% of those accidents are deer related, 200 of which resulted in human death. Think of how many deer caused those accidents either from being left on the road or jumping out in front of cars. If there was 4 million miles of road in 2005 think about how many miles there are now and how many more accidents and deaths will occur from that. In William E. Stafford’s “Traveling Through the Dark” the speaker stops to drag a deer off the road that another driver hit, so drivers don’t swerve or hit it more. When he approaches the doe, he finds that it is pregnant and is faced with the decision to save the fawn or push the doe off
When the speaker first stopped, he didn’t notice she was pregnant until he was standing close to her in the dark. He noticed, “she had stiffened already, almost cold.” That she had already “stiffened” suggest she had been dead for awhile. If the doe had already stiffened there would be no way that the fawn could be born in a natural way. The speaker would have to perform a c-section if he wants the doe to live. Her body had entered the rigor mortis stage, so it would be extremely difficult to perform a c-section. If he tries to give a c-section he would have to “saw” through the doe’s rock-hard body which could hurt the fawn. The word “cold” shows that her body functions have already ceased awhile ago. The doe has no way of having contractions to birth the fawn. It’s nearly impossible to even save the deer if he tried. When his finger touches her side, he realizes, “her fawn lay there waiting, alive, still, never to be born.” The phrase “lay there waiting” means the fawn is aware and realizes its mother is dead, so it waits for what the speaker will do next. The fawn knows it has no chance of survival. He also uses the phrase “never to be born” this implies he has no skill to deliver the fawn. He doesn’t know how to give a c-section so he knows he’ll never be able to save the fawn without accidently stabbing or shaking the fawn violently if he tries to saw the doe open. Whether he successfully saves the fawn or not, there is a good chance of a lot of pain. If he successfully delivers the baby, who’s to say it won’t get hit by a car or eaten by a predator since it can’t walk well when it’s first born. The speaker realizes all of these possibilities and complications so he does the most humane thing and lets the fawn die peacefully and