What does Detering symbolize in the book? support with references

Detering is a farmer. He represents the gentleness of a farmer who longs to grow things, not kill things. Detering laments that the horses, dying in the fields, are innocent souls. They are beautiful and should not have been involved in the hell that man has brought upon himself. Detering, being a father, has a special place for animals in his heart. Horses are true innocent souls; they do not understand the carnage and pain that is going on around them. Detering would risk his life to find the horse in agony and put him out of his misery.