The Coast Guard's Near Drowning Experience

The unnamed Coast Guard's near drowning experience in "All Hands" is symbolic of an actual birth. While the Coast Guard is not consciously aware of it himself, he is being reborn into the world. The water he is submerged in is a representation of the amniotic sac that a baby is encased in while they are in the womb. As the Coast Guard feels his way up the side of the tanker, he describes it in a way that recalls the shape of a woman who is clearly pregnant. He is comes out of the water following the curve of the tanker, much like the way a child would come out of their mothers womb.

Deer

Deer, especially in the story, "Beast," symbolize infidelity and primitive nature. In "Beast," the wife only begins to turn into a deer at night once...