Doe Season

In the story "Doe Season" Andy feels comforted by the woods. "They were the same woods that lay behind her house, and they stretched all the way to her, she thought, for miles and miles.... The thought made her feel good..." (David Kaplan) She was able to feel comfort from the woods because they stretched all the way from her house: a comfortable place. Not only is her house a comfortable place but a familiar place as well. I think this is important because she is only nine years old, and at that age, comfort and familiarity are high on the list of priorities. However, when she talks about the ocean, she is unsure of herself because the ocean is unfamiliar. "She and her parents had gone last summer to stay for a week at a motel on the New Jersey shore. That was the first time she'd seen the ocean." (Kaplan) Since she had only seen the ocean once in her lifetime, it was unfamiliar to her, and she felt uncomfortable being around the ocean. I think she feels the same way about growing up. It's unfamiliar to her, so she doesn't know what to expect. "It was huge and empty, yet always moving. Everything lay hidden. If you walked in it, you couldn't see how deep it was or what might be below ..." (Kaplan) The same goes for growing up. No one knows whats going to happen. This really frightens her because she is not used to not knowing what to expect.