sees the doe. From the doe flows yet another reference to change and womanhood: blood. Genesis 9:4 says that blood is the “life of the flesh.” Throughout history women have been known as the preservers of life. They provide care and nourishment, whereas the men are the hunters and killers. “That’s what the woods are all about anyway…it’s where women don’t want to go” (355). The blood Andy sees coming from the doe appalls her. When her hand was in the deer it caused her physical pain because it was not in her nature to see the pain and blood and experience the horror that comes with killing. “And then her hand pulled free, followed by a steaming rush of blood, more blood than she ever could have imagined-it covered her hand and arm, and she saw to her horror that her hand was steaming” (360). Andy then tried to remove any trace of the blood on her. “She moaned and fell to her knees and plunged her hand into the snow” (360). Women are not unaccustomed to blood. Their menstrual flow is a natural part of a mature woman’s life. But, Andy despised the blood that came from the doe because it represented death and pain. Blood symbolizes the flow from girlhood into womanhood, but more than that, it also illustrates the womanhood Andy is brought into. The ocean is another symbol used in the story to represent change. This metaphor, however, is complex. While it alludes to the change that is undergone, like the blood, it also represents what Andy changes into: womanhood. A woman’s body consists of more water than a man’s. Just like the water in the ocean is susceptible to the gravitational pull of the moon, so is the water in a woman’s body. She is like and ocean in that she has tides. But how the tides affect each woman may be different for each. Nonetheless, there is a movement of water inside a woman’s body. The movement is key, not only ...
