Traveling Through the Dark - Summary | The Heritage of Words

English | Summary
Unit Two : Ecology and Change
Traveling Through the Dark
William Stafford
The Heritage of Words

William Stafford's poem "Traveling Through the Dark" examines the killing of a pregnant doe by a hit-and-run driver, and the dilemma faced by the speaker who is also a driver. People generally travel in the dark when there is some urgency or when they have some immediate destination to reach. Speaker is traveling in the dark with some special purpose. So he is in a hurry. On his way he finds a dead deer on the edge of Wilson River.

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Important Questions :

1. Explain the title of the poem. Who are all those driving through the dark?

Ans. The title of the poem “Traveling Through the Dark” is very suitable one. People generally travel in the dark when there is some urgency or when they have some immediate destination to reach. So, the speaker of this poem is traveling in the dark with some special purpose. But when he finds a dead doe on the road, he is in dilemma. He is in confusion either to show deep love and emotion to an unborn but alive fawn in the belly of the doe or to save the passengers on his car as a dutiful driver. After much thoughtful meditation, he pushes the dead doe into the river in order to reach his destination and save the passengers. The ‘darkness’ indicates One of nature's beautiful creatures has been killed and pitilessly left on the road, unburied and unmourned to cause future accidents. The driver's inaction suggests moral darkness. The darkness also suggests the narrator's confusion about what to do with the deer. "Traveling through the dark" also symbolizes the spiritual void of humankind in its insensitivity toward nature.

Question for Practice :

1. What is the central idea of the poem?
2. Show how the action develops stanza by stanza in the poem.
3. What does the traveler feel when he touches the dead doe?
4. Do you agree with what the narrator did ? Why?

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