Mortality In William Stafford's Traveling Through The Dark

From 2015 to 2016, Pennsylvania experienced a 5% increase in car-deer collisions (carinsurance.com). A 5% increase probably led to a higher rate of death on America’s roadways. This increased rate of mortality is addressed in William Stafford’s “Traveling Through the Dark,” in which the speaker nearly strikes a dead doe on the windy Wilson River Road. Instead of driving by the doe like most indifferent travelers, he stops to remove it. Although the speaker’s actions may appear inhumane, the speaker makes the ethical choice by pushing the dead pregnant doe off the road into the canyon because he saves the fawn from unspeakable suffering, the conditions were not conducive for him to save the fawn, and by sacrificing the fawn, he saves human lives. First, the speaker saves the fawn from unspeakable suffering. As soon as the speaker learns the doe is expecting, he comprehends there is no way to preserve the fawn. The Speaker says, “her fawn lay there waiting, / alive, still, never to be born.” The speaker seems to know that this fawn will not survive. The word “still” suggests the fawn is no longer moving, and perhaps on the way to dying soon. Also, the word “never” indicates the speaker has already decided not to interact with nature. Additionally, the dead doe has

The speaker states, “ to swerve might make more dead.” This perilous obstacle would cause people to either plow into the speaker and the doe or plummet off the cliff or even collide oncoming traffic and die. The speaker explains, “I thought hard for us all.” He is weighing the salvation of other human lives, as well as his own against the sacrifice of the fawn. After some agonizing seconds the speaker states, “It is usually best to roll them into the canyon.” He has apparently stumbled upon dead deer on the road before and therefore knows what he is doing. He also knows that people will perish, if he fails to