A White Heron By Sarah Orne Jewett

Sarah Orne Jewett was an inspiring, unique author of her time. Her upbringing introduced her to the outdoors and allowed her to develop a passion for nature and being an independent woman. One of her short stories, A White Heron, incorporates these passions of hers but also reflects on her childhood. This story also illustrates the pressures a person can face when faced with new relationships. Sarah Orne Jewett takes her personal life experiences and beliefs to influence the main character, Sylvia, to leave a lasting message of standing up for what is right and preserving nature.

Sarah Orne Jewett was born on September 3, 1849 to a wealthy family in South Berwick, Maine. Both her father and her grandfather were physicians so her upbringing

was comfortable and aloud her to explore all her interests. He father was a huge advocate for her to stay active. She suffered with arthritis at a young age. Because of this, he would take her on patient visits with him into the city or he would encourage her to play outside in their countryside. This lifestyle was very influential to her writing. Because money was not an issue in her family, she was able to devote all of her attention to her writing and developing impactful stories.
The main character, Sylvia, is very similar to Sarah in a way and both her and
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this character have very comparable childhoods. Like Sarah, Sylvia has been torn between two worlds, one in the city and one in the country. As more is revealed about Sylvia, it becomes apparent that the countryside is her true home and she has a true love for nature. The setting is the foundation to this story. Daily, Sylvia explores the forest behind her house. She is so comfortable in this setting and through her eyes there is a picture that is painted of the forests stillness. Sylvia knows her surroundings like the back of her hand and is so in tuned with the sounds of the forest that she can distinguish the difference between a man’s whistle and bird’s whistle. “Suddenly this little woods-girl is horror-stricken to hear a clear whistle no very far away. Not a bird's-whistle, which would have some sort of friendliness, but a boy's whistle” (Jewett 52). The natural environment around her is so still and familiar that it is frightening when it gets disturbed. This stillness is so important to her that in the end, it is something she will ultimately protect.
From the settings foundation, the characters really build and develop this story. Mrs. Tilley, Sylvia’s grandmother, has a small role in this story but it is significant. Sarah’s father inspired Mrs. Tilley’s character. Being that her father was a physician, he cared very much for people. He wanted his daughter to always lend a helping hand when she could. This is exactly who Mrs. Tilley is. Just like Sarah’s father always set her up for success, Mrs. Tilley has done the same for her granddaughter. When Sylvia came across a man in the forest, she invited him back to her house to meet her grandmother. Mrs. Tilley accepted him with open arms and set him up for the evening. This is the kind of man Sarah’s father was and he was the
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monarch for his family. Mrs. Tilley is as well. She not only knows what is best for her children but she also knows what is best from her grandchildren. She lets Sylvia explore her surrounds on her own, even though she is only nine-years-old. Sometimes Sylvia is gone for hours and returns home very late. This establishes a level of trust between grandmother and grandchild but also implies the Mrs. Tilley may even know her granddaughter better than Sylvia knows herself. There is definitely a parallel between these two characters and Sarah and her father.
The other main character of this story is the hunter. He is an attractive young man, initially comes off as friendly and charismatic. However, he is not necessarily a good, kindhearted man. He is a symbol of Sylvia’s past in the big city and how city folk do not appreciate nature or the lives in it. He is also a symbol from Sarah’s life. Being that Sarah was born in the late 1800s, women often had to rely on men for structure and support. Women were often expected to maintain the household and lacked independence. The hunter is a symbol of this because Sylvia slowly begins to let pieces of herself go as she becomes closer to the hunter. The hunter is killing the birds for a collection instead of letting them live in their natural habitat. This is contradicting to Sylvia’s belief. However, she goes with the hunter into the forest to help him search for the heron he looks for. The hunter is fully aware that Sylvia knows the location of the bird he is hunting and is convinced that he can persuade her to tell. He is manipulating with his charm and does not have Sylvia’s best interest. This is a conclusion that Sarah made in her own life. She never married and cared very much about being a female activist and illustrating the importance of b
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eing independent.
Sarah influences Sylvia because she is a free spirit and she understands nature and her surroundings. But she is also a relatable girl that young readers can aspire to be. Sylvia is very mature for her young age. On the journey to find the white heron, Sylvia is at a crossroad. She can satisfy the expectations of her grandmother and the hunter and sacrifice what she loves or she can protect what she truly loves. Instead of giving into her feelings and giving the hunter what he is searching for, she stays true to herself and protects nature and its creatures. “Has she been nine years growing and now, when the great world for the first time puts out a hand to her, must she thrust it aside for a bird's sake?” (Jewett 59). Sylvia even surprises herself because her heart was torn in two different directions. However, she chose to protect the bird’s secret. This illustrates how unique Sylvia is because she is responsible and sensible.
Sylvia is the backbone of this story but the white heron and her journey to locate the bird is very symbolic and empowers Sylvia.

The bird, the white heron, represents the purity of nature and how beautiful it is when it is not tampered with. When Sylvia is tempted to hunt this bird, she awakens very early one morning. As she ventures into the forest, she locates the tallest tree that will let her over look the whole forest. This tree has great representation and is just as symbolic as the heron itself. “The tree seemed to lengthen itself out as she went up, and to reach farther and farther upward. It was like a great main-mast to the voyaging earth; it must truly have been amazed that morning through all its ponderous frame as it felt this

det
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ermined spark of human spirit creeping and climbing from higher branch to branch” (Jewett 57). As she struggles up the tree, she gets clarity on the effect of her life choices. She has a moral epiphany. Every time she reaches a new branch, there is a transparency about her morals and her personal values. If she gives in and tells the location of the heron, she would receive some money from the hunter. The money would be useful for her and her grandmother. However, at the top of the tree, she realizes that no amount of money is worth sacrificing the heron and its beauty.
Nature was one of Sarah’s greatest passions. She felt a great connection to nature and its animals. One of her most favorite parts of nature was the trees in her hometown. It was where she would play. However, one winter those trees were cut down. She felt like a piece of her was missing because she would never see those trees again. She was so intoned with nature that she believed there even was a way to communicate with it. This is why she stresses the importance of preserving nature and the animals within it.
In addition to the symbols of this story, there are also two major themes that Sarah also focuses on. One is the correlation between man and the natural world. The hunter represents the lifestyle of man. He does not value nature or its living creatures. He hunts as a hobby and collects the birds he kills without any remorse or regrets. Where as Sylvia, really values the simple life and appreciates the humble country. She, at one point, considers only herself and personal gain she could have with the hunter but when it comes to sacrificing the heron, she makes the right choice to be true to herself. This connects to the second theme of choices. Every c
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hoice made has a consequence.

Whenever a choice is made then one has to live with the effects of that choice. This leaves an impactful message. Even though Sylvia does not necessarily regret her choice, she wonders what could have been if she had made a different one. Life is full of reliving choices and daydreaming about alternate paths. Her decision was right but it did not leave her completely satisfied. This also connects with Sarah’s outlook on feminism. She tries to illustrate that women do not have to conform to what others expect of them. This was something she did in her own life. Being a female writer was rather uncommon. In fact, her work is more popular nowadays and more recognized nowadays then it ever was before. She stresses the importance of independence standing up for

oneself.
This story, A White Heron, and Sarah Orne Jewett’s life has many messages to walk away with. As the settling and characters develop, the symbols and themes are interlinked to display the innocence of a child but also a massage of doing what is right by staying true to oneself. This message is important because it is coming for a nine-year-old. This means that at any age, a person can stand up for what they believe in. In addition to this, the hunter and Sylvia both want something from each other. The hunter wants a completed collection that requires Sylvia’s help and Sylvia develops a crush and wants companionship. Sarah identifies this is something that everyone relates to. All relationships require some sort of demands or sacrifices but Sarah really weighs the importance of not losing who a person really is as they venture through any relationship. However, on Sylvia’s journey up the tree, she realizes the importance of sacrificing her feelings or how she is perceived in order to
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do what is right.