The White Heron

Sylvia’s struggle towards the hunter is also lifelike. The hunter used the money to tempt Sylvia, which drove her crazy. “No amount of thought, could decide how many wished-for treasure the ten dollars, so lightly spoken, would buy”. (13) It is the original and authentic feeling that most kids can get, but the author didn’t omit the impact of money

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

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

It is difficult to sacrifice something that is loved to acquire a personal gain. Sylvia is not willing to disrupt the beauty of the forest for a personal gain. She and her grandmother really do need the reward that is being offered to them by the hunter.

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.

One of the women made the comment that Mrs. Wright used to be pretty and happy, when she was Minnie Foster not Minnie Wright. This is just the beginning of realizing that she was just pushed to far into depression and couldn't live up to John Wright's expectations anymore. The Wrights had no children and Mrs. Wright was alone in the house all day long. The women perceive John Wright to be a controlling husband who in fact probably wouldn't have children and this may have upset Mrs. Wright. They eventually find vacant bird cage and ponder upon what happened to the bird, realizing Mrs. Wright was lonely they figured she loved the bird and it kept her company. The women make reference to the fact that Mrs. Wright was kind of like a bird herself, and that she changed so much since she married John Wright. They begin looking for stuff to bring her and they find the bird dead and they realize someone had wrung its neck. This is when they realize Mrs. Wright was in fact pushed to far, John Wright had wrung her bird's neck and in return Minnie Wright wrung his.

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.

As the ladies examine the house, while the men are other places, picking clothes and an apron up for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale gains sympathy for her until finally she starts to take action. When they find the block of quilting that has stitching askew, she starts to fix it, perhaps to cover for Mrs. Wright?s distraught state of mind. While Mrs. Hale is finding sympathy for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters offers a counterpoint that tries to justifies the men?s viewpoints and actions. Her comments to Mrs. Hale?s resentful musings on Mrs. Wright?s unhappy life and on the actions of men in regards to women in general all seem to be rote answers programmed into her by society and a desire not to cause any trouble. This all changes as soon as Mrs. Peters finds the bird.

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

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)

The White Heron depicts a story of a little girl who leads a life of respect and love of nature rather than that of fortune. Early on in the story, she meets a boy who is a self-proclaimed ornithologist, a scientist that studies birds. He is willing to pay ten dollars to whomever can show him the White Heron he had once seen. It is now up to Sylvia, the young girl, to make a decision either in favor of the ornithologist or the white heron. Ultimately, she will be making a decision to acquiesce to male dominance or not.

​The theme of trust occurs many times in “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett, and is very important to the short story. In the story, a young girl named Sylvia faces the challenge of trust. She must decide if she should reveal the location of the white heron to the man that she meets in the woods, or if she will keep the location of the white heron a secret. Ultimately, trust plays a major role in Sylvia’s decision making, and the short story shows that trust is a very valuable possession which must be earned and not given.

Susan Glaspell uses the bird to justify the murder of Mr. Wright in Trifles. Within the play there is a broken bird cage. This cage is symbolic of Minnie Wright’s marriage. She lives in the middle of nowhere with John. This isolation breaks Minnie Wright’s spirit, just like the cage is broken. In the story it says, “She used to sing real pretty herself” (986). Since Minnie is out in the country with no one but John, that bird is her lifeline to the outside world. She lives through that bird. John’s oppression of Minnie, and the fact that he cold-heartedly killed her bird takes away her desire to sing, or dance, or dress pretty. Arthur Waterman states “She was figuratively strangled by John” (3). In turn, Minnie literally strangles John with a rope in his sleep. The women don’t always find this action morally or ethically right. Mrs. Peters, in the beginning, said “But, Mrs. Hale, the law is the law” (Glaspell 984). After finding out about the bird, and pondering the situation among themselves, the women all agree with Minnie Wright. It was justifiable homicide in their eyes, thus making it ethically and morally right in their eyes.

Where the educated reader may draw the relevancy, the character is oblivious to the matter, seems to take it in as humor, and the atmosphere of sadness seems to dissipate as he carry’s on and begins to converse with the bird. He idolizes the bird, and gives it a godly decree. He dictates to the reader a clear picture that undoubtedly portrays a bird, black as night and as haunting as death itself. And adding to the demonic nature of the bird the character goes on and