In “Deer Season,” Belle Boggs writes about the school’s dynamic changes when the majority of the boys leave to shoot deer. This story offers not only a commentary on feminism but also a demonstration of how girls and boys affect the atmosphere of the school. “He thinks [the girls] dress more casually on this day, no boys to impress.” (3) Belle Boggs shifts from narrator to narrator to change perspectives. As the story continues, the power of the point-of-view character decreases (principal > secretary > popular girl > nerd boy). I feel as though this demonstrates how hierarchical high school is, especially in a small town. As an outsider to this culture, I found the whole practice surrounding deer hunting strange until I realized that I grew up around the same cultural practices except, in my life, they surrounded football.
Belle Boggs’ “Deer Season”
Nov 30th, 2017 by GracePatton
Two wonderful insights here — that the story progresses to less powerful point-of-view characters and that football is surrounded by many of the same rituals as hunting.