Critical Analysis of Sarah Orne Jewett's Short Story "A White Heron"

Four have already left home, one will leave soon and the other three still dwell in the house with her. She then begins to express the dangers of the world around her in a bird’s point of view. For example, she is afraid that her young will fall in a fowler’s snare, be caught in a net or by birdlime on twigs, or hurt by a hawk. In a human world a fowler’s snare might be fallings into the hands of trickery, robbery, or any other type of crime. Caught by net or birdlime might represent being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a hawk-inflicted injury might symbolize being wounded or killed by an Indian or criminal.

Starting of with “A White Heron”, the story starts with a mellow, quiet mood. Sylvia is walking in the woods with her companion, her cow. Jewett includes words and phrases such as “childish patience” and “the little girl” that makes the reader grasp the idea of Sylvia being a child. The fact that Sylvia hears the whistle of the stranger and hides also show the idea of her being a young child. The first day meeting the stranger, Sylvia seems reserved and not paying much attention to him talking about the white heron, even when he confesses to pay ten dollar for anyone who helps him find it. Soon enough, Sylvia develops a crush on the hunter. She does go in the woods with him for his needs to find the white heron but she does not disclose where the bird could be, it seemed as if she just wanted to enjoy his company. When Sylvia goes on her

Sylvia finally reaches the top of the tree and captures the immense beauty of the forest. The whole forest represents her innocent nature which strengthens her connection to it. The imagery above the forest develops into the inciting incident for her change of will. She sees “The golden sun’s rays hit the green forest. Two hawks flew together in slow-moving circles far below Sylvie. Sylvie felt as if she could go flying among the clouds, too” (Jewett). This moment grows to her realizing that human attachment could not pull her away from her bond. Through her experience, she returns to the same thoughts she had before meeting the hunter. As, Atkinson further explains, “Thus, it is not

With the following second stanza the tone of the poem becomes more depressing. By saying that “there is no life higher than the grasstops or the hearts of sheep”, she creates boundaries to the vastness of life, limiting and comparing its essence to that of a plant’s and an animal’s, leaving the humans out of the poem. The depressive mood degrades the tone and atmosphere to an extent of filling it with death and fatality. If Sylvia pays “the roots of the heather too close attention”, they will “whiten her bones among them”. The combination of the words “bones” and “white” in one sentence might suggest that the roots will bring her death; since the skin of a corpse turns white due to the lack of blood, and bones are the leftovers of a dead hence both are associated with mortality. As opposed to the first stanza, the second stanza takes her to a completely different place. Grasstops, sheep, the roots of heather- all surround her, whereas in the first stanza she is completely alone in a huge desolate space. The change in her surroundings suggests her movement across the moorland, but at the same time it points out the maintenance of her demoralized emotional state and the lack of a positive change about it.

Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.

“A White Heron” and “The Revolt of Mother” express symbolism through the color white. The color white is prominent in the title “A White Heron”. Sylvia presents herself to

One’s view on something often changes when you look at it from more than one point of view. Morality plays a significant role in any decision making process. It is hard to justify any decision that is not moral. Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron” has many elements of nature, and of the preservation of what Sylvia holds dearly. The thought provoking short story evokes emotions of caring, loving, and fear. All of these emotions are shown by different settings and characters in the story.

The poet orders his listener to behold a “solitary Highland lass” reaping and singing by herself in a field. He says that anyone passing by should either stop here, or “gently pass” so as not to disturb her. As she “cuts and binds the grain” she “sings a melancholy strain,” and the valley overflows with the beautiful, sad sound. The speaker says that the sound is more welcome than any chant of the nightingale to weary travelers in the desert, and that the cuckoo-bird in spring never sang with a voice so thrilling. Impatient, the poet asks, “Will no one tell me what she sings?” He speculates that her song might be about “old, unhappy, far-off things, / And battles long ago,” or that it might be humbler, a simple song about “matter of today.” Whatever she sings about, he says, he listened “motionless and still,” and as he traveled up the

In Cold Mountain and "A Poem for the Blue Heron", tone is established in a multitude of ways. These two pieces of literature describe the characteristics and actions of a blue heron, both aiming for the same goal. However, Charles Frazier and Mary Oliver approach their slightly differing tones employing organization, metaphoric language, and diction.

Sarah Orne Jewett was an American novelist who specialized in regionalism. “A White Heron”, a short story from this semester makes this evident. The story has Sylvia, a little girl, on the rural coat of New England. Throughout the story Jewett uses specific details to create a superb, realistic

Understanding human behaviors is a complicated job because it requires many studies on various people in a long period of time. Sarah Orne Jewett introduces an image of a nine-year-old girl, Sylvia, innocence mind with a mature decision into her story, “A White Heron.” Sylvia does not want to betray the love for nature from an offer of an attractive hunter. She discovers what is most important to her after overcoming many internal thoughts about what she will do with the money from the hunter’s offer, or fulfills her passion with a natural world. The story is contained both situational and dramatic irony, which provides a different point of view of Sylvia in the society. Not everyone is motivated by money. The setting and keeping of economic power is central to Sylvia’s existence and activities.

Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron" is a brilliant story of an inquisitive young girl named Sylvia. Jewett's narrative describes Sylvia's experiences within the mystical and inviting woods of New England. I think a central theme in "A White Heron" is the dramatization of the clash between two competing sets of values in late nineteenth-century America: industrial and rural. Sylvia is the main character of the story. We can follow her through the story to help us see many industrial and rural differences. Inevitably, I believe that we are encouraged to favor Sylvia's rural environment and values over the industrial ones.

Since its first appearance in the 1886 collection A White Heron and Other Stories, the short story A White Heron has become the most favorite and often anthologized of Sarah Orne Jewett. Like most of this regionalist writer's works, A White Heron was inspired by the people and landscapes in rural New England, where, as a little girl, she often accompanied her doctor father on his visiting patients. The story is about a nine-year-old girl who falls in love with a bird hunter but does not tell him the white heron's place because her love of nature is much greater. In this story, the author presents a conflict between femininity and masculinity by juxtaposing Sylvia, who has a peaceful life in country, to a hunter from town, which implies her

Today, rap music is an ever growing genre of music that is often centered on hedonistic pursuits such as wealth, cars, drinks, and fame. About forty years ago, however, rap music focused on an entirely different subject matter. During the 1970s, African Americans sung rap songs to express the need for Black empowerment in society; though their form of singing was not called rapping back then, it was called spoken word poetry, a form of song in which verses of poetry were performed with a fixed beat before an audience. African Americans used this style of singing to express the discontent with the economics and politics during the 1970s. The black population was still economically and politically powerless

A White Heron written in 1886 is about a girl who comes to her grandmother's house in the country side she falls in love with the nature and after some time adjusts in the new surroundings. Being familiarized with the surroundings, a hunter offers her a considerable reward for finding a Heron for his personal collection. Being human she agrees to find the bird and accompanies the hunter but fails to find the heron. Later on she goes alone and finds the bird's nest by climbing on the tallest tree, this in turn reignites her love and passion for the nature and the thought of helping the hunter and killing of the Heron becomes cynical. She keeps it a secret and Hunter goes back without his prize. (Jewett, 2009)