Another short story that depicts individualism as a main theme is Sarah Orne Jewett’s, “A White Heron” (1886). Conceptualizes the main protagonist, Sylvia, perspective of nature vs humanity as a mystical sanctuary. She changes throughout the story because of her experience coming face to face with the heron bird, and meeting the hunter. Her relationship with nature is one that is very passionate, and unique. She believes nature holds standards for boundless treasures. Sharing a special bond with the delicacies of Mother Nature animals, Sylvia’s connection with the beautiful bird, his “gray feathers…smooth as moths….” (Jewett 439) The white heron stands for purity, grace, beauty, and calmness. Secrets such as the heron rises “through the golden …show more content…
She realizes she will be able to see things nobody could otherwise see. Describing sights of, “white sail ships out at sea and the clouds that were purple and rose-colored and yellow at first began to fade away” (439). She can almost picture the world around her as a bird would. The pine-tree therefore becomes a tree of insight. Sylvia endured a lot to reach this point; it was a tiring and painful job, “the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons” (439). Sylvia’s loyalty to nature helps her embrace the heron whose an expression of nature. The seclusion and isolation of the woods over telling the hunter where the heron’s locations are. Shows her character’s true colors, one who believes that by revealing her secrets to the hunter, she will be giving herself up to him, even though she’s romantically connected to him. This revelation would act as an act of sexual submission and final offering of not only her feminity, but her individualism too. The hunter is eager to hunt the bird, by only killing them for sport, depicts the danger to Sylvia, as a symbolic bird herself, and the subsequent sealing of her own demise by surrendering to him what she saw. Thus, deciding to be a woman of nature rather than a woman of society. Nature is a powerful and seductive protagonist; more powerful compared to the young man she meets, and falls for. It claimed Sylvia’s wellbeing long before the …show more content…
Individuals in “Howl” are stripped away from claiming ample opportunities of being artistic, free, and have particular aesthetic sensibilities. “Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch...Moloch the incomprehensible prison...Moloch whose mind is pure machinery….” (1400) Ginsberg’s poem criticizes the lack of individual expression throughout society. Saying Beatniks who ate, wept, coughed, plunged, cut, balled, hiccupped, howled, broke, burned, cowered, and sank, yacketyyakking, screaming, vomiting, and whispering. Described endless depictions of how Moloch’s power over the lives of the oppressed gave his “filth, solitude, and, loneliness” (1400). Kept consciously destroying the minds of men and women alike. Intellectuals had done nothing wrong, yet vices and society tore them apart and killed them. Moloch from this perspective can be seen as an antithesis to of his generation. A concrete void, one who opposes individual freedom and love. However, Ginsberg’s poem initiated a call for self-expression and the use of rebellious language was a means towards a cultural and political oppression. Stand up against politics, society, and culture that ultimately brought down the youth culture of
As Sylvia becomes acquainted with the hunter, she begins to learn about his pursuit of the white heron.
By presenting the competing sets of industrial and rural values, Jewett's "A White Heron" gives us a rich and textured story that privileges nature over industry. I think the significance of this story is that it gives us an urgent and emphatic view about nature and the dangers that industrial values and society can place upon it and the people who live in it. Still, we are led to feel much like Sylvia. I think we are encouraged to protect nature, cherish our new values and freedoms, and resist the temptations of other influences that can tempt us to destroy and question the importance of the sublime gifts that living in a rural world can bestow upon us.
It is important to understand Sylvia’s character to truly understand the significance of the tree and Sylvia climbing to the top. Personal growth and maturity is an expectation of living, but getting the opportunity to experience it in the country, on a farm, is paramount to the changes Sylvia experiences. Sylvia is described as shy, quiet, and fearful. Jewett presents Sylvia as “Afraid of folks”(p.1598) and a loner, which is probably why she found the” lonely house”(p.1598) to be a place she never wanted to leave. In the very beginning of the story, while bringing home the milk cow one evening, Jewett shares Sylvia’s fear of strangers when “this little woods-girl is horror-stricken to hear a clear whistle not very far away”(p.1598).
“Howl” by Allen Ginsberg: the poem that changed America. Utilizing parataxis, Ginsberg composed the poem in a breath-length form; the poem itself broken up into three parts: the first of which is described by Ginsberg as “a lament for the Lamb in America with instances of remarkable lamb-like youths”, the second which “names the monster of mental consciousness that preys on the Lamb”, and the third, “a litany of affirmation of the Lamb in its glory”. This poem consists of many of Ginsberg’s own biographical references and allusions, empowering the emotion behind the written words. Though seemingly sporadic and desultory, the poem is notably organized and detailed with each “part” of the poem focusing on one core subject and seeming to resemble elongated run-on sentences. “Howl”, being a reflection of the culture and society of the American 1940’s and 50’s to the non-conformists, sets up madness as a central theme.
“The White Heron” does this in a naïve way because the main character is a young girl. For example, the main character shows her age by hiding in the bushes when she first meets the young hunter. In fact, Sylvia would not even make eye contact with the hunter (Perkins 532). But, after Sylvia got used to the stranger, the two became “new-made friends” and watched the moon come up together (Perkins 533). It seems as though the world could be a decent place indeed, but then the story alternates. It begins to change perspective when the grandmother claims to have buried four children, and she says, “I’d ha’ seen the world myself if it had been so I could” (Perkins 533). The grandmother’s assertion lets the reader know that she and Sylvy live an underprivileged life. It is at this point of the story that the reader learns that Sylvy knows the grounds well, knows all about birds, and loves animals. The hunter is looking for a white heron to make part of his collection of stuffed birds. As it turns out, Sylvy knows exactly where this bird resides (Perkins 534). The reader can see the conflict here, since Sylvy loves animals. But, the hunter offers ten dollars to show him the bird. Sylvy thinks, “No amount of thought, that night, could decide how many wished-for treasures the ten dollars, so lightly spoken of, would buy” (Perkins 534). In order
In "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett, the main character, Sylvia, must decide between the human, material world and the natural, organic world in an ultimatum centered around the life of an elusive and enchanting White Heron. This journey Sylvia takes is developed through the author's use of colors and metaphorical applications of animals to highlight the main character and her central conflict of choosing between man and nature.
In this life, she is seen as one of the animals herself. “Alas, if the great wave of human interest which flooded for the first time this dull little life should sweep away the satisfactions of an existence heart to heart with nature and the dumb life of the forest!” (pg. 181). She climbs and soars up a pine tree and discovers the beautiful birds nest. She is stunned from the exquisiteness and gorgeousness of the nature that surrounds her. “Where was the white heron’s nest in the sea of green branches, and was this wonderful sight and pageant of the world the only reward for having climbed to such a giddy height? Now look down again, Sylvia, where the green marsh is set among the shining birches and dark hemlocks; there were you saw the white heron once you will see him again; look, look! A white spot of him like a single floating feather comes up from the dead hemlock and grows larger, and rises, and comes close at last, and goes by the landmark pine with steady sweep of wing and outstretched slender neck and crested head” (pg.
When the young sportsman explains why he is there he states that he is hunting for the white heron, and he says, “I can’t think of anything I should like so much as to find that heron’s nest… I would give ten dollars to anybody who could show it to me” (416). Having now given an incentive for Sylvia to give up the location, she reacts negatively, with her heart giving a “wild beat.” Sylvia instinctively understands that the white heron is representative of the beauty of nature, as it is a rare and beautiful bird, and that giving the young sportsman the birds location is wrong. However, she is faced within an internal conflict as she knows the ten dollars would be helpful to her family. Therefore, she doesn’t dismiss the idea instantly, but instead goes hunting with the young sportsman to see what he is like. As they’re hunting, Sylvia displays distaste for the young sportsman’s gun, stating, “Sylvia would have liked him vastly better without his gun; she could not understand why he killed the very birds he seemed to like so much” (417). This highlights an important difference between the young sportsman and Sylvia. Since Sylvia loves nature, and birds, she assumes that the young sportsman is hunting because of a similar love for nature. However, the young sportsman represents an abuse of power, rather than a love for nature,
“What is it that suddenly forbids her and makes her dumb?” Sylvia, nymph of the woods as her name etymologically suggests, hears the “murmur of the pine’s green branches”, “remembers how (she and the white heron) watched the sea and the morning together”; she cannot “give its life away.” She decides between her own individual purpose and the one of “a Higher Cause” when she chooses to remain untainted from the sin of being the accomplice of the white bird’s murder. Sylvia is the guardian of the forest and its beauty that can “bring (its) gifts and graces” to her. This is her “return with the elixir”: she has matured, the hunter leaves without his prize and the white heron is saved. From the start, Sylvia had been under the charm of the man who speaks “gallantly” and “alarmed” her. Even then, she felt he could be her downfall as “she hung her head as if the stem of it was broken”, just like her former neighbor’s geranium; he represents the city and its dangers, people, the foe for someone like her “afraid of folks”. He tries to win her over by giving her a knife, and Sylvia can sense her “woman’s heart (…) vaguely thrilled by a dream of love.” She has a “premonition of that great power” and the pain she will endure when “the guest went away disappointed” whilst she “could have served and followed him and loved him as a dog
Although the hunter acts friendly and kind to Sylvia and her grandmother, it becomes clear that his motives are skewed. He is described to have not noticed “this hint of family sorrows in his eager interest in something else.” (1.17). This indicates that his benevolence stemmed not from his good heartedness but from his drive to capture the white heron. Moreover, the sentence “He was sure from the way the shy little girl looked once or twice yesterday that she had at least seen the white heron, and now she must really be made to tell” (2.11), discloses that the hunter tried to beguile Sylvia into telling him the heron’s location by giving her attention. In depicting the hunter as a negative influence, the antagonist, and contrasting his personality to that of innocent Sylvia, the narration validates Sylvia as the
In A White Heron, Sylvia’s discovery of the white heron’s nest is significant to her on multiple levels; the discovery signals the approval of those she cares greatly about, represents a personal achievement, and underlines her connection with nature. Firstly, Sylvia’s discovery means that she can secure the friendship and approval of someone she seems to care greatly about. When Sylvia discovers the heron’s nest, she eagerly anticipates telling “the stranger” of her discovery, and she excitedly wonders how he will react and what he will think of her. Secondly, words such as “daring”, “determined”, and “human spirit” show that Sylvia overcame her fears to make this discovery. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Sylvia becomes one with nature
When Sylvia is thinking to herself, she thinks of things that she could buy with ten dollars: “No amount of thought, that night, could decide how many wished-for treasures the ten dollars, so rightfully spoken of, would buy. (4)” When Sylvia dreams of things she could buy, she does not think about how she has to help find the white heron. Sylvia shows that has not gained a respect for the bird’s life yet. When Sylvia finally reaches the top of the tree, she sees the “white heron’s nest in the sea of green branches (5)” and thinks of how her finding is a reward for climbing the tree. Sylvia climbs the tree for a ten dollar reward, but realizes that the real reward is nature. She shows that she has a respect for nature when she stops to look at the white heron and realize how beautiful it is. After Sylvia gets home, the hunter “ waits to hear the story [Sylvia] can tell (6)” so he knows where to find the white heron. When Sylvia is asked what her findings are, she forgets about the reward and thinks of how beautiful the white heron is. Now that Sylvia has seen the bird, she no longer has hope for the reward but respect for the bird’s life. In conclusion, the hope of the reward does not influence Sylvia’s decision on whether to tell the hunter about the white heron, or to keep it a
With all this, the author has achieved the vivid implication that aggressive masculine modernization is a danger to the gentle feminine nature. At the end of the story, Sylvia decides to keep the secret of the heron and accepts to see her beloved hunter go away. This solution reflects Jewett?s hope that the innocent nature could stay unharmed from the urbanization. In conclusion, Sylvia and the hunter are two typical representatives of femininity and masculinity in the story?The white heron? by Sarah Orne Jewett, Ph.D.
Imagine a world where it was acceptable to express all of your thoughts and feelings without worrying about what others thought of you. Sadly, that kind world is only real in our imagination. We live in a world where freedom of speech exists, yet we’re part of a society that prevents us from freely expressing ourselves. And I truly believe that is what makes people go insane because they have to keep the things they want to speak about inside their heads. Or of course, turn to writing a book or poem just like Allen Ginsberg. After reading “Howl,” I’ve come to a conclusion that Ginsberg was a mad man stuck in a cruel some world that prevented him from being him. “Howl” was a political outburst and protest in poetry
Madness is a disease. It’s a disease that can exponentially consume the host and make them lose their minds overnight. Allen Ginsberg, a famous beat poet, was a victim to madness. Under his circumstances, it was a disease that was incurable. Ginsberg, along with the other famous beat poets of his time in the 1950s’, had a remedy to his madness which was what he did best, create poems. In his famous poem, Howl, he vividly and emotionally paints a picture of a horrifying time in his life in which he was consumed and destroyed by madness. In HOWL, it is clear that the three parts of Ginsberg’s poem echoes the theme of madness with the use of form, tone, and language which in turn shows us of how our society really is