Theodora Sarah Orne Jewett: Character Analysis

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

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.

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

The youth finds peace with Nature away from war. After running into the forest from the clamor of battle, he soon comes to an empty field. The solider could tell that “This landscape gave him assurance. A fair field holding life. It was the religion of peace. It would die if its timid eyes were compelled to see blood. He conceived Nature to be a woman with a deep aversion to tragedy.” Here, Nature is described as a sensitive woman who dislikes the horrors of war, just like he loathes it. The youth feels comforted by this fact accordingly, and takes some time to evaluate his actions. But this encounter with the omniscient Crane is far

Birds are a common sight in most places people tend to be. These winged creatures are seen in bustling places like the pigeons that are in urban and suburban areas, the woodpeckers in rural regions, the crows on farms, and even in cages within buildings. In fact, these elegant creatures are so common a sight in society that they are often overlooked and underappreciated. This is similar to how women were and sometimes still are treated within society; they are given little appreciation when they are present and doing as they are told, but when they do not do as they are told they become a problem. This parallel that can be drawn between women and birds is used throughout Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, in which its main character Edna Pontellier is often likened to and symbolized by a bird. Throughout the novel, the bird acts as a theme and symbol of both Edna and women in general.

There was a moment of panic. Who had screamed? It was Mrs. Schachter. Standing in the middle of the car, in the faint light filtering through the windows, she looked like a withered tree in a field of wheat. She was howling, pointing through the window:

As mentioned before, Marie’s personality does not correspond with many aspects of prairie life. Another example of this is hunting, a leisurely activity to most. While out hunting with Emil, Marie was happy and content until it actually started. “There was a sharp crack from the gun, and five of the birds fell to the ground.”(109) After Emil shoots the birds, Marie is distraught and cannot understand why he must kill living beings. As Emil tries to comfort her, seeing her distress, Marie does not find comfort. Marie’s emotions overcome her : “she said tearfully, ‘but I didn 't think. I hate to see them when they are first shot. They were having such a good time, and we 've spoiled it all for them.’”(109) Marie expresses her sadness and illustrates an outstanding quality about her; she does not think before acting. When she is

As she tries to hide a stranger with a gun approaches her, one can almost feel the ominous feeling that something bad is going to happen. One can see that the stranger is kind, but the carrying of the gun gives that hint of danger. The danger is reveled later when the stranger is told of Sylvia’s knowledge of the birds and other animals. Instead of enjoying natures creatures in their natural habitat the stranger shoots them and then “they're stuffed and preserved, dozens and dozens of them," (Jewett, pg #}. The stranger talks of the white heron as if it were his “Holy Grail”.

In the story, “A White Heron,” the reader is introduced to the main character, Sylvia. Her quest begins when she meets a man who is lost within the nearby forest and is in need of a place to stay for the night. Sylvia

?Sylvia still watched the young man with loving admiration. She had never seen anybody so charming and delightful, the woman?s heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely thrilled by a dream of love.? As the symbol of masculinity, the hunter is an aggressor although he is described to be kind, handsome, friendly and sympathetic. When first met Sylvia in the woods, he ?called out in a very cheerful and persuasive tone? and spoke to her in a courteous way. In fact, he takes advantages of Sylvia because he is in need of home and food. When he needs Sylvia?s help, he proves he cares for her so much, ?He listened eagerly to the old woman?s quaint talk, he watched Sylvia?s pale face and shining gray eyes with ever growing enthusiasm.? ?He told her many things about the birds and what they knew and where they lived and what they did with themselves. And he gave her a jack-knife, which she thought as great a treasure as if she were a desert-islander.? However, he is cruel and merciless to nature, his gun is a convention which is to destroy the nature. ?I have been hunting for some birds?. At the end, he goes away and does not help her family when she refuses to tell him about the heron?s nest.

In a blog post titled “How It Feels To Be Colored Me,” Zora Neale Hurston comes off to the reader as an outgoing young woman who is curious about the world around her. During her time in Eatonville, Hurston was fortunate to have not experienced segregation, which was sweeping the South. Moving to Jacksonville changed all of what Hurston thought she knew and left her to adapt to a new lifestyle that she was not excited for. Hurston remained strong, even if it was internally, similar to the character Janie in “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Janie is a few years older than Hurston when her Nanny arranges her marriage with Logan Killicks. After he treats her like an object to put to work, Janie finds the strength to leave her unfulfilling marriage

Jill Lepore’s novel, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, exposes the birth of Wonder Woman and her creator, William Marston. For obtaining a PhD in psychology, it is shocking that Marston struggled to hold a job. He carried various jobs, but he spent a majority of his time creating and promoting his lie detector. At home, Marston was married to Sadie Holloway; however, Olive Bryne also lived in their house as a caretaker and mistress. Bryne met Marston at Tuft’s University, and there was an immediate love connection. The Marston/Bryne/ Holloway family operated in a distinct way. The two women, Bryne and Holloway, took care of the children and supported the family by working while Marston occupied random

Each character in this story has a different way to interact with the world around them. Sylvia is a little girl who has a deep love for nature. She seems to become one with nature because she cares for living things (birds, white heron, and cow, etc…) and protects nature. Sylvia spends all of her love and devotion for nature; therefore, with her, living on a farm is better than in a town: “This was a beautiful place to live in, and Sylvia [she] never should wish to go home” (Jewett 55).

The author made Sylvia into a Hero through the climbing of the tree. First the author talks about the call to adventure. Sarah begins the story with, ?Half a mile from home, at the farther edge of the woods, where the land was highest, a

“More than all the hawks, and bats, and moths, and even the sweet-voiced thrushes, was the brave, healing heart of the solitary gray-eyed child.” Sylvia’s gray eyes help her identify with the birds with “their gray feathers as soft as moths” which bind her even further to nature. She is able to connect with the birds so deeply that she just saw them and “felt as if she too could go flying away among