A White Heron Analytical Essay

In this excerpt from “A White Heron,” Sarah Orne Jewett tells of a young girl, Sylvia, climbing a tree as high as she can and staring out over the world from on top. Through her use of birdlike imagery, a varying narrative pace, and unique point of view, Jewett presents Sylvia as a young heroine conquering a small piece of the world. The passage immediately begins with a long sentence in lines one through three. The measure of this sentence represents the overwhelming size of the pine tree in the woods. Jewett then tells readers that “Sylvia knew it well.” Succeeding a very long sentence with one with only four words contrasts the size of young Sylvia with the size of the tree. She is miniature in comparison to the great pine that she wishes to climb. While the tree may be larger than she, Sylvia “had always believed that whoever climbed to the top of it could see the ocean” and wishes to ascend. The young girl begins climbing the white oak tree “with utmost bravery” in the dark of night, while the tree stands asleep. Long sentences and punctuation slow the pace of Sylvia’s climb and demonstrate the momentary pauses she must take. Jewett also describes Sylvia like a conquerer of “the great enterprise” and a “housebreaker.”

In this transitional moment, she must fight for her right to continue the journey up the tree. Jewett further highlights Sylvia’s frailty and “thin little fingers” against the tree’s “great stem.” Like any hero or heroin, Sylvia has to experience some kind of change in order to arrive at her destination. Among the “sharp dry twigs” that “caught and held...and scratched her” Sylvia becomes like a bird and is accepted by the pine