s where the character of the man is developed. In deciding what to do with the deer and its fawn, the man "[hesitates] beside that mountain road]" (line 12]. Here, the reader expects that the man will do the noble thing and somehow save the fawn. Rather though, the man and Stafford surprise the reader with the mans action of throwing the deers corpse, along with its unborn fawn tragically into the canyon. This is his "swerving" which causes death (of the fawn), and adds to Staffords theme of how decisions along the road of life may cause death.During the mans hesitation, Staffords personification of the car and wilderness further develop the poem. In the forth stanza, Stafford describes the factors which influence the man during his decision. The unnatural objects in the scene impatiently await the mans return and expediate him along in his decision-making. To show this, Stafford uses personification of the car. It "aimed ahead its lowered parking lights" (line 13), and "under the hood purred the steady engine" (line 14). Also, the man feels somewhat pressured by his car. He "[stands] in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red" (line 15). The car does not care about the difficulty in this decision; it wants to keep moving. In this way, the car symbolizes our inner drive to progress in life and get ahead on the road of life. Much like the car, the wilderness is personified as well. But, it does not rush the man in his decision. Rather, it waits, and the man can "hear the wilderness listen" (line 16). Now, the man must make his decision, taking into account all factors. This personification adds to the development of the poem, and illustrates how we are all influenced in our decisions.Through his explanation and description throughout this poem, Stafford creates the image of the road of life and illustrates how the decisions we make are all interrelated and have consequences. "Travelling Through the Dark" reveals the d...
