"Doe Season" is all about gender roles and coming of age. Even the title is a clue, for a doe season is a deer hunting season in which hunters only take female deer.
Andy is torn between the two worlds - her mother's (the house) and her father's (the woods). Andy (note how her father calls her by a boy's name) wants badly to be included in her father's world. Yet, she learns that this world is not what she expects - note too the real reason for her father bringing her along (she attracts animals).
Instead of her focusing on her dream, try examining Andy's flashback to the beach. It is full of female/mother imagery. Her mother floats in the waves while her father sits on shore. Again we have two separate worlds. The sea, having given birth to life on earth, is a symbol for motherhood. Then her mother's top comes off, exposing her breasts. This horrifies Andy, yet her mother takes her time putting her top back on. This reinforces the mother imagery. Her mother is grown and comfortable with her role as a woman and mother. She is also comfortable with her body.
A final thing to note - notice that as Andy flees the woods and the men, she refuses to be called "Andy" anymore. She will be known as Andrea. Also, she hears the wind roaring, like the ocean beckoning her to come in. She has realized that the cruel world that her father is associated with is not for her. She has learned what it is to be a woman.
No comments:
Post a Comment