A Look at Walter Von Tilburg Clark's Short Story "Why Don't You Look Where You're Going?"

Out on a vast no man’s land, you are voyaging speedily through the unknown coordinates. As far as you can see there’s nothing, just the waves of the flat sea. All you can hear is the loud noise of nothing. For miles around there is not another vessel. As you speed ahead, something catches your eye out in the distance. It is too far away to tell what it is; yet it is …

…of this episode happening are very slim, yet it does happen. Clark, by writing his short story, could have meant something else other than the literal. He could have written the story to apply to life. How this parable applies may be different to each individual’s life, but it can apply. Also, he may have meant the literal meaning and encourages us to ask ourselves, “Why don’t you look where you’re going?”