Themes and Critical Analysis of Traveling through the Dark
Themes and Critical Analysis of "Traveling through the Dark"
In William Stafford’s poem “Traveling through the Dark”, the theme of confrontation between wilderness and technology exists. This poem also deals with the difficulty of finding the right path, choosing to do the morally right thing.
The speaker is a man traveling at night who finds a dead doe on the edge of the road. The doe was killed in an earlier collision with another vehicle: “a recent killing; she had stiffened already, almost cold.” The speaker faces a moral dilemma early in the poem: “It is usually best to roll them into the canyon: that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.” Who is it best for, the deer or man? Is human life more important than animal life? These are questions that arise when reading Mr. Stafford’s poem. These are questions that the speaker must answer before the night is over.
The speaker’s dilemma continues when he discovers that the deer is pregnant and the fawn is still alive: “I dragged her off; she was large in the belly. My fingers touching her side brought me to the reason – she side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting, alive, still, never to be born.” The man must make a decision which is at first glance obvious and easy but upon further analyzes the decision is one which involves a larger life – the wilderness. The moral dilemma of the poem, of society itself, ultimately becomes a personal dilemma for the man: “I thought hard for us all.” The speaker hesitates about what to do, “my only swerving,” yet he finally does what he initially was going to do, roll the doe into the canyon.
Although the killing seems cruel and mean, the speaker does not seem hopeless or discouraged by it; he does not seem desperate. His tone and attitude seems resigned and somber, even resolute. He alone must decide the fate of the fawn.
The speaker’s car represents the predator in this poem and the deer is the prey. Throughout the poem the vehicle is described as an animal that stalks: “The car aimed ahead it lowered parking lights; under the hood purred the steady engine.” This predator and prey scenario is confrontation...