Travelling Through the Dark by William Stafford Short Summary While driving at night a man finds a dead deer. He stops to push it off the road. He notices that it is pregnant and the unborn baby is still alive. He stops to think, and then he pushes the dead animal into the river. Paraphrase/Explanation First Stanza: I was travelling at night by the Wilson River road when I found a dead deer. The road is not very wide, so the best thing to do is push the dead animal off the road into the river. If you try to drive around the deer’s body, you might drive off of the road and be killed. Second Stanza: I got out of the car, leaving the lights on and I went to the deer. It had been killed recently; it was already stiff and nearly cold. I pulled the deer’s body to the edge of the road. Its stomach was large and I realised that her side was warm. Third Stanza: When I touched the deer, I realised she was pregnant. Its baby, inside her, was still alive and was waiting to be born – but it never would be. I stood on the road trying to decide what to do. Fourth Stanza: The lights of the car shone and the engine was still on. I stood by the warm exhaust. I could hear the wild animals listening. Fifth Stanza: I thought hard about what to do, my thoughts were the only thing that changed direction, and then I pushed the dead deer off the road into the river. Glossary deer: large animal with large horns; canyon: deep valley with a river in it; swerve: change direction suddenly; glow: not very bright light; faint light; tail light: red lights at the back of a car; doe: female deer; stumble: walk, and almost fall over; stiffened: became hard-not able to be bent; belly: stomach; brought me the reason: made me understand what had happened; fawn: baby deer; hesitated: stopped and thought; aimed: pointed, directed; hood: front of the car (Brit Eng=bonnet) ;purred: made a soft sound, murmured; glare: harsh light; exhaust: fumes/smoke that comes out of the back of a car; wilderness: jungle – like area, thick forest, and the animals in it. Comprehension Questions 1. Where was the poet? What time of day is it? What did he find on the road? What does he say is the best thing to do? Explain the line “to swerve might make more dead”? What did the poet do? When the poet touched the dead deer what did he realize? What could the poet hear? What does the poet finally do? What is the significance of the unborn deer? In the line “I thought hard for all of us”, what does the poet think about? What is meant by “my only swerving”? How does the poet feel about finding the deer? Why does he hesitate before pushing the dead animal off the road? Board Questions 1. What is the central idea of the poem “Travelling Through the Dark”? (2057) 2. Show how the action develops stanza by stanza in the poem “Travelling Through the Dark”? (2060) 3. Do you agree with what the narrator did? Why? (2063) Some Solved Questions 1. Explain the title of the poem. Who are all those travelling through the dark? Ans. The poem is about a travel or mountain trip made by a group of men who are probably nature travelers. It is night time and the car is passing through the mountain road. 2. Show how the action develops stanza by stanza. Ans. The action moves from physical to mental as the poem progresses. In the first stanza, the speaker sees a dead deer on the road and wants to avoid driving around it. Then, we see the speaker stop his car and get out of it. He walks backward to notice a recently killed pregnant doe. He also drags it to the side of the road. After that, the speaker feels for the ill-fated unborn deer and remains undecided as to what action to take. The penultimate stanza describes the car and its activities in the wilderness. And, in the final stanza, the speaker finally pushes the dead deer into the river after much thinking. 3. How do the last two lines complete both types of action? Ans. There are two types of action – physical and mental – in the poem. These two actions come together in the last two lines. The speaker contemplates (thinks deeply) the possible course of action to be taken on behalf of his group members as regards to the dead doe, and finally throws it into the river. Thus, after deep thought he pushes the dead deer. 4. Explain the meaning of the word “swerve” in line 4 and line 17. Does the speaker “swerve”? Ans. Swerve in line 4 means “change direction suddenly” and it has a physical meaning. In line 17 it means “mind movement from one idea, thought to another” and it has a mental meaning. In the first instance neither the speaker nor the car swerves, because if that is done than there would be more casualties on the narrow mountain road besides the dead pregnant doe. In the second instance the poet swerves between the easy course of action (pushing the deer into the river) and the more difficult, but better course of action (trying to save the unborn baby deer). He chooses the easy course. 5. Stanza 4 is a break in the narrative. How do you explain its significance in the poem? Ans. Stanza 4 describes the car, its dim lights, the purring of the engine and the smoke coming out of its exhaust pipe. This description contrasts with the earlier stanzas as he had been describing the occasion of the dead deer knocked down by an unknown passing vehicle and the possible courses of action available to him. The break in the narrative of the poem has an ironic significance as we come to learn that the car is more alive than the deer carrying a live baby inside it. We also see the contrast in that the smoke is “warm” but the doe is stiff and cold. The car seems to be urging the speaker to make quick decision, and hence the physical action of the first three stanzas is replaced by mental action in the fifth stanza that eventually results in the disposal of the dead deer. 6. What is the tone of the poem: ironical (Characterized by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is), sympathetic (Expressing or feeling or resulting from sympathy or compassion or friendly fellow feelings) indifferent (Showing no care or concern in attitude or action; marked by a lack of interest)? Ans. The speaker seems to combine various moods in the poem. He shows sympathy towards the unborn baby deer, not he doe. However, he is not indifferent. If he had been indifferent, he wouldn’t have stayed on the road undecided. He would have got into the car again after dragging the doe to the side of the road, and rode away. This poem is not so much about the death of a pregnant doe or killing of innocent animals as it is about human actions and thoughts. Thus, the tone is mainly ironical and depressing. This is so because the speaker thinks one thing and takes another course of action. We think he will try to rescue the unborn baby but he doesn’t or can’t. The speaker is, indeed, in two minds. This is the irony of human existence. We can’t do all the good things we are taught and brought up to believe and practice. The speaker takes the ugly course of action – pushing the deer. On a minor note, it is ironical also that we kill innocent animals but can’t decide what proper action to take. 7. What is the central idea of the poem? The poet seems to explore the conflict that goes on in the human mind between ugly virtuous actions, like responsibility, duty, etc one is taught to believe in and practice in day to day life and the difficulty of executing them at crucial times. In this poem the speaker is in an ironical situation as he is made to think deeply to do something to save the unborn deer for which he is not responsible. Sorrowfully, he can do nothing. He is a representative helpless man. He does the unthinkable – pushing the pregnant dead deer off the edge of the road. OR The poet seems to tell us that the dual responsibilities of anyone are impractical and has high risks. They are likely to give us many problems. There are two options: one self-centered and another community-centered. He concludes that when one has to make choice between the two, such choice is almost always self- centered. OR Hard life decisions need to be made on a daily basis. Some of those decisions already have definite conclusions, but we wish we could change the conclusion to them by making the choice but we don’t have the power in order to change the way we make these decisions. This theme is touched upon in the last two lines. The speaker wants to make a decision, however, the outcome is already determined or decided for him. What is the meaning of the last two lines of the poem? Does the poem moralize? The last two lines are trying to tell us that human actions are not always consistent. The “us” in the poem, is by extension, all human beings who think of a lot but take a drastically different approach from what they think. When faced with conflicting situation, we don’t alternate wisely between reason and emotion; sense and sensibility. We are prodded on by pragmatism not idealism, by self- centeredness not community- centeredness. Often, our human actions shift from high thoughts to petty inhuman action, not out of our own volition but because of the circumstances or state of affairs. The poet moralises implicitly. Morality is about taking the right decision and right action in a complicated and also in not-so complicated situation. Do you try to get the baby fawn out of the mother? Do you call for help? Stafford gets at the root of what is the right thing to do. He acts like a debate master as he sets the question to us. The poet is possibly telling us that it is our bounden duty to help animals or things in distress wherever we can. He might also be satirizing the helpless attitude of people, who take the easy course of action at critical times. No wonder we are mostly guided by physical action as it is easy to set it into action. We don’t almost always think in a balanced way, more so when it is the case of animals, mountains or mountain ecology. Do you think the reference to the alive but never –to-be born fawn sentimental? The poet does not appear sentimental to the deer. He is used to seeing dead animals on the road and knows what to do: ” it is usually best to roll them into the canyon:/that road is narrow. The case is the same with the unborn fawn. When he learns that the deer has an unborn fawn inside it, he is stung into contemplation (deep thought). Now, the physical action is substituted by emotional feeling. He is torn between action and thought. He weighs his options, and ultimately, decides to throw the deer and the unborn baby into Wilson River Road. This is not a sentimental act, but a studied and logically sound action, and the best one at that. (You can go for the sentimental too: the poet is trying to arouse in us the sentiment of pity. We feel for the fawn, not for the doe though. The doe is dead, but the fawn is still there. It has an exciting life waiting for it. He is filled with the awkward predicament of human beings and their actions. Sometimes, what action – good or bad – you take doesn’t count. You can only become sentimental, so he feels deeply for the unborn fawn.) What kind of images are used in the poem? Visual, Tactile, Auditory images (quote the parts) Driving in the Dark (Essay points) • For driver and passengers: enjoyable experience: cool weather – you can feel the wind blow against your face or listen to melodious music or even watch the latest movie; you can also look at distant village or cities/town lighted at night, especially in the mountains and the joy is more if you are not driving. You may occasionally sight an animal(s) you have been dying to see once, say a majestic tiger. • At day time, you could enjoy some things more but some things less. You have to beat the heat, especially in the summer, and then there is endless traffic jams. You can’t watch a movie as the constant honking and braking takes the entertainment out of the way. But you may enjoy talking with a fellow passenger next seat. You can also enjoy in all its diversity: rivers, lakes, forests, birds, animals, etc. There are domestic animals like cow and dog, which are a big nuisance and threat to you and your people. • thin traffic: which means less hassles – less traffic checking; less wayward animals, less chances of accidents unless the driver is drunk or drives badly. Because there is less distractions on your path ( people or vehicles are less) you can concentrate on your driving. You can enjoy fast driving, especially in the plains, where roads are wide and straight. You must take precaution when wild animals are around or you enter protected areas like parks, conversation sites or reserves. The light could confuse them or terrify them, and then they could come onto the road. Also, sometimes they happen to be crossing road as part of their travel necessity. There should be police patrolling in such areas or safety measures like high fences . You should not swerve the vehicle in the mountain road because otherwise you could meet with accident on the bend. • Less shops and eateries open so you have to prepare yourselves for the journey or pace your journey just so; food can be very expensive, and not necessarily good; People travelling in small vehicles could face complications: thieves and criminal-minded people could harm or attack. People in big conveyances like bus or train could enjoy safety in the crowd. Raj Kumar Gautam, Arniko HSS, Biratnagar, rgautam78@
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:13:58 +0000
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