Season By David Michael Kaplan __top__ Full Text: Doe

“Doe Season” endures because it refuses the usual arc of empowerment. Andy does not become a killer. She does not win her father’s full approval. She does not resolve the tension between who she is and who she is told to be. Instead, Kaplan suggests that growing up means living inside that tension—and sometimes, choosing to walk away from the test.

“Doe Season” is a taut, haunting initiation story. Unlike traditional coming-of-age narratives that celebrate a child’s entry into adult society, Kaplan’s story explores a more painful, ambiguous transition: the moment a young girl realizes she does not want the identity being forced upon her. The protagonist, nine-year-old Andrea “Andy” Kaplan (no relation to the author—a coincidental but notable same last name), goes on a deer hunt with her father and two older men. By the story’s end, she has not killed a deer but has killed something else: her father’s image of who she should be.

She wades in, washing off the blood. And when Mac calls her “Andrea” without irony, she doesn’t correct him. The story closes with her walking into the waves, away from the woods, away from the name Andy. Doe Season By David Michael Kaplan Full Text

David Michael Kaplan’s " Doe Season " is a celebrated coming-of-age story following nine-year-old Andy, who confronts the harsh realities of mortality and gender identity during a Pennsylvania deer hunt. The narrative centers on her traumatic loss of innocence when she witnesses the violent killing of a doe, marking a shift from childhood freedom to adulthood.

One of the story’s most haunting features is Andy’s recurring fantasy of a . While sitting on her deer stand, she imagines swimming in the ocean, following a mermaid’s song toward a lost ship. This fantasy is warm, fluid, and maternal—a stark contrast to the cold, rigid, masculine hunt. “Doe Season” endures because it refuses the usual

Throughout the story, Kaplan's writing is characterized by its lyricism, sensitivity, and depth. His use of language is evocative and immersive, drawing the reader into the world of the story and refusing to let go. The characters are multidimensional and relatable, with their own distinct voices and perspectives.

Here's a brief summary:

| Symbol | What It Represents | How It Functions in the Story | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Childhood innocence, the familiar, and safety. | It is "always the same woods," a controlled, safe space where Andy has an identity that is comfortable, even if it is a masculine one. | | The Ocean | The uncharted territory of adulthood and female sexuality. | When Andy first sees the ocean, it is "huge and empty, yet always moving...everything lay hidden". This mystery and changeability frighten her, unlike the static comfort of the woods. | | The Doe | Andy's own emergent and vulnerable femininity. | The doe is not a powerful buck; it is a female animal, gentle and vulnerable. When Andy shoots it, she is, in a symbolic sense, attacking her own female nature. | | The Heart | The essential, life-giving, "alive" core of femininity. | Touching the doe's beating heart is the story's most powerful moment. It forces Andy to confront something warm and vital within herself that she has tried to suppress, and it "burns" her with the intensity of that truth. |