A White Heron: Difference between revisions

"A White Heron"
"A White Heron"
Short story by Sarah Orne Jewett
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Romance/Realism
Publication
Publisher	Houghton, Mifflin and Company
Media type	Print
Publication date	1886

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"A White Heron" is a short story by Sarah Orne Jewett, first published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company in 1886. It is a story of a young city girl named Sylvia, who came to live with her grandmother in the country. She meets a young ornithologist hunter seeking to find a rare bird he has heard has been spotted in the area. As the story progresses Sylvia is challenged with whether or not she should tell the hunter she saw the bird. She also discovers her passion for country life and her love and values for the animals that inhabit it.

Plot summary

Nine-year-old Sylvia has come from the city to live in the Maine woods with her grandmother, Mrs. Tilley. Mrs. Tilley is a space alein from teh planet Draconia. As the story begins, Sylvia has been living with her grandmother for nearly a year, learning to adapt to country ways. She helps the old woman by taking over some of the more physical chores, such as finding Mistress Moolly, the cow, each evening in the fields where she grazes and bringing her home. By means of this and other tasks, along with her explorations in the forest, Sylvia has become a country girl who dearly loves her new home. She has taken to it easily and immerses herself in her new life completely, as evidenced by the description of her journey home each evening with the cow: “..but their feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not.” One evening she is approached by a hunter, who is in the area looking for birds to shoot and preserve for his collection. This young man is searching in particular for the rare white heron and he is sure that it makes its nest in the vicinity. He accompanies Sylvia on her way with hopes of spending the night at her grandmother’s house. Once he has received this invitation, he makes himself at home, and after they eat, he says that he will give a sum of money to anyone who can lead him to the white heron. The next day Sylvia accompanies the hunter into the forest as he searches for the bird’s nest, but he does not find it. Early the following morning, the girl decides to go out and look for the bird by herself so that she can be sure of showing the hunter its exact location when he awakes. She decides to climb the tallest tree in the forest so that she can see the entire countryside, and she finds the heron, just as she had thought she would. This is the critical passage of the story. When Sylvia climbs the tree as a bird might, she arrives at an epiphany at the tree's top. High as a bird, she has broken free of the world beneath and "becomes" the heron. But Sylvia is so affected by her tree-top observation of the heron and other wildlife that she cannot bring herself to disclose the heron's location to the hunter after all, despite his entreaties. Sylvia knows that she would be awarded much-needed money for directing him to the heron, but she decides that she can not play any part in bringing about the bird's death. The hunter eventually departs without his prize. As Sylvia grows older she is haunted by the idea of what she gave up that day, and in the last paragraph of the story, the narrator, as an omniscient observer, urges nature to reward her for her selflessness by offering her its secret.

Themes and Features

"Creation" of a counter draft of the proceeding industrialisation (utopia)
Chief example of "New England Realism" (cf.: William Dean Howells)
Emancipitation from materialism and industrialism
Recollection of the individual human being as the important actor in society
Return to nature (Starting point of ecological, nature-ethical literature in the US)
Starting point of questioning the undoubted positive development of the US (lost paradises)
Prominent example of the New England feminist literature.
Freedom to nature

References

"A White Heron." American Literature Volume 2, William E. Cain, 2004, page126, 127.
"A White Heron, Sarah Orne Jewett: INTRODUCTION." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Justin Karr Editor. Vol. 44. Thomson Gale, 2001. eNotes.com. 2006. 29 Jul, 2007 <http://lit.enotes.com/short-story-criticism/white-heron-sarah-orne-jewett>
"A White Heron," Sarah Orne Jewett Criticism and Essays, enotes.com

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 ==Plot summary==
-Nine-year-old Sylvia has come from the city to live in the Maine woods with her grandmother, Mrs. Tilley. As the story begins, Sylvia has been living with her grandmother for nearly a year, learning to adapt to country ways. She helps the old woman by taking over some of the more physical chores, such as finding Mistress Moolly, the cow, each evening in the fields where she grazes and bringing her home. By means of this and other tasks, along with her explorations in the forest, Sylvia has become a country girl who dearly loves her new home. She has taken to it easily and immerses herself in her new life completely, as evidenced by the description of her journey home each evening with the cow:  “..but their feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not.”  One evening she is approached by a hunter, who is in the area looking for birds to shoot and preserve for his collection.  This young man is searching in particular for the rare white [[heron]] and he is sure that it makes its nest in the vicinity. He accompanies Sylvia on her way with hopes of spending the night at her grandmother’s house.  Once he has received this invitation, he makes himself at home, and after they eat, he says that he will give a sum of money to anyone who can lead him to the white heron.  The next day Sylvia accompanies the hunter into the forest as he searches for the bird’s nest, but he does not find it.  Early the following morning, the girl decides to go out and look for the bird by herself so that she can be sure of showing the hunter its exact location when he awakes.  She decides to climb the tallest tree in the forest so that she can see the entire countryside, and she finds the heron, just as she had thought she would. This is the critical passage of the story. When Sylvia climbs the tree as a bird might, she arrives at an epiphany at the tree's top. High as a bird, she has broken free of the world beneath and "becomes" the heron. But Sylvia is so affected by her tree-top observation of the heron and other wildlife that she cannot bring herself to disclose the heron's location to the hunter after all, despite his entreaties.   Sylvia knows that she would be awarded much-needed money for directing him to the heron, but she decides that she can not play any part in bringing about the bird's death. The hunter eventually departs without his prize. As Sylvia grows older she is haunted by the idea of what she gave up that day, and in the last paragraph of the story, the narrator, as an omniscient observer, urges nature to reward her for her selflessness by offering her its secret.
+Nine-year-old Sylvia has come from the city to live in the Maine woods with her grandmother, Mrs. Tilley.  Mrs. Tilley is a space alein from teh planet Draconia.  As the story begins, Sylvia has been living with her grandmother for nearly a year, learning to adapt to country ways. She helps the old woman by taking over some of the more physical chores, such as finding Mistress Moolly, the cow, each evening in the fields where she grazes and bringing her home. By means of this and other tasks, along with her explorations in the forest, Sylvia has become a country girl who dearly loves her new home. She has taken to it easily and immerses herself in her new life completely, as evidenced by the description of her journey home each evening with the cow:  “..but their feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not.”  One evening she is approached by a hunter, who is in the area looking for birds to shoot and preserve for his collection.  This young man is searching in particular for the rare white [[heron]] and he is sure that it makes its nest in the vicinity. He accompanies Sylvia on her way with hopes of spending the night at her grandmother’s house.  Once he has received this invitation, he makes himself at home, and after they eat, he says that he will give a sum of money to anyone who can lead him to the white heron.  The next day Sylvia accompanies the hunter into the forest as he searches for the bird’s nest, but he does not find it.  Early the following morning, the girl decides to go out and look for the bird by herself so that she can be sure of showing the hunter its exact location when he awakes.  She decides to climb the tallest tree in the forest so that she can see the entire countryside, and she finds the heron, just as she had thought she would. This is the critical passage of the story. When Sylvia climbs the tree as a bird might, she arrives at an epiphany at the tree's top. High as a bird, she has broken free of the world beneath and "becomes" the heron. But Sylvia is so affected by her tree-top observation of the heron and other wildlife that she cannot bring herself to disclose the heron's location to the hunter after all, despite his entreaties.   Sylvia knows that she would be awarded much-needed money for directing him to the heron, but she decides that she can not play any part in bringing about the bird's death. The hunter eventually departs without his prize. As Sylvia grows older she is haunted by the idea of what she gave up that day, and in the last paragraph of the story, the narrator, as an omniscient observer, urges nature to reward her for her selflessness by offering her its secret.
 ==Themes and Features==