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Levi Timothy
Jackie Burr, Instructor
English 1010, section 2
January 4, 2017

The Use of Diction to Portray the Realationship With Man vs. Man
William E. Stafford, born in 1914, wrote a poem Traveling Through the Dark, and had
it published in 1962. In this poem he writes about a man who is driving alone on a deserted road.
This man in the poem comes upon a deer that was recently killed, so the man gets out to move
the deer so other cars dont swerve off the road. This poem's theme is that of a man vs. man, or
as a battle with oneself about what is right and what is wrong. For example if a person is alone
and come across a problem will the person will do the right thing even if someone is not looking.
The author develops this theme by making the poem a narrative story, uses effective diction with
connotative language, and the perspective of the writer.
Staffords diction is a large part of why this poems theme is so profound. The language
used makes it stand out to the reader and gives a specific feeling or thought. For instance when
Stafford writes in more detail about the deer on the road:
My fingers touching her side brought me the reason--her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,
alive, still, never to be born.
Beside the mountain road I hesitated. (lines 9-12)
This section can strike a nerve to the reader when they realize that this was not a doe that has
been struck and killed, but also an innocent unborn fawn. This is the moment when the character

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in the poem has a decision to make on what to do with the dea deer and whether he will leave it
for someone else to take care of it or move it himself to make the road less dangerous for others.
He also portrays the idea of the man vs. man with how Stafford tells the story as a
narrative. The narrative way the poem is written is a key element of its success,Traveling
through the dark I found a deer dead on the edge of Wilson River road(lines 1-2). The way
Stafford starts out this poem is so perfect to keep the narrative tone but still have that deeper
meaning. The narrative tone is a superb way to hide the deeper meaning of the poem and not
give it away without making the reader look deeper into it.
The perspective that Stafford rights from is a way to show that everyone has those
thoughts about taking the easy route. He says this plainly,Beside the mountain road I
hesitated(line 12). This hesitation he writes about is when the world's ideas of taking the easy
way creep in and cause us to waver from the choice we are making. Another instance when the
world's ideas crawl into the thoughts of man is when he talks about the surroundings,I could
hear the wilderness listen(line 16). The wilderness listening is the world trying to tell man that
the easy way is acceptable.
Staffords poem Traveling Through the Dark shows plainly that the human species is
tearing itself apart. It can no longer be A choice to pick what is easy over what is right. The
human species needs to come together to find a way that the easiest way is the right way.

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Stafford

William. Traveling Through the Dark. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed.
Michael Meye. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013.904. Print