In the story “The White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett you are introduced to a young girl and what her seemingly simple life entails. There is so much that can be learned about values and culture through the background information of the story. The story is a good example of a period piece that introduces us to the lifestyle one could expect in a 19th-century farm. A clear picture is painted showing us what society was like during that time in history. Through Sylvia the little girl, we learn so much about people and what the world is like for them in the 19th -century. In the beginning of the story we are introduced to a young girl and the setting for the story is laid out. It is through the setting and background information we can compare life to today and the way we live. The young girl is traveling through the woods with her grandmothers cow at dusk. “The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o'clock” (Jewet) The girl is about the age of nine and she is …show more content…
allowed to travel alone, in an area that is not easily accessible to others, could be dangerous, and is put in charge of the cow (something of great value) to care for? It is through the introduction that one can quickly contrast the time period of the story and learn about values of that period. Today we are taught to use the buddy system when traveling, always be in the sight of supervision and to put a young child in charge of something valued highly just wouldn't happen. Was safety not an issue? Were expectations higher for young children out of necessity? The next setting gives us a glimpse of where Sylvia lived prior to coming to live with her grandmother. Prior to moving to the forest with her grandmother, Sylvia lives in a manufacturing city with several siblings. The grandmother visits her daughter in the city with the purpose of choosing one of her children to come live with and help her at her home in the country. There appears to be no question or hesitation about this concept or idea. It comes across as normal or even an honor for a young child to leave their family home, perhaps with to many mouths to feed. “Sylvia whispered that this was a beautiful place to live in, and she never should wish to go home.” (Jewet) Today, this is a baffling statement to come from someone so young and so far away from home. Sylvia then comes across a young hunter who she brings home. Her grandmother invites the man to stay sleep and enjoy a meal with them. “The young man stood his gun beside the door, and dropped a lumpy game-bag beside it; then he bade Mrs. Tilley good-evening, and repeated his wayfarer's story, and asked if he could have a night's lodging” (Jewet) Through this interaction we get a picture of the lack of fear of strangers (even when caring guns) and how generous people were during the time. Today, we don't open doors unless we know who is on the other side and to openly share information would be an oddity. One of the last examples informing us about the 19th-century life in the story is the introduction of the conflict to the story.
The young hunter offers Sylvia ten dollars for helping him find the white heron. Sylvia dreams of the things that can be done with the money and the help she can provide her grandmother. “The young man stood his gun beside the door, and dropped a lumpy game-bag beside it; then he bade Mrs. Tilley good-evening, and repeated his wayfarer's story, and asked if he could have a night's lodging.” (Jewett) We understand through the internal conversation Sylvia has, what a large sum of money the ten dollars is. The money would be a great help for her and her grandmother. The money would actually make their lives easier. The fact that the money so easily could be given away by the hunter and yet make things easier for Sylvia's family is thought provoking. The value of the dollar is also something that has drastically changed when comparing
periods. Through Ms. Jewett's story there are many points of discussion or analysis one could have. Looking at the setting and background images paints a picture that is easily informative and thought provoking. Whether a setting is described through a homes furnishings and size or the amount of money one spends it is within the details that one can learn the most.
The setting takes place mostly in the woods around Andy’s house in Pennsylvania. The season is winter and snow has covered every inch of the woods and Andy’s favorite place to be in, “They had been in her dreams, and she had never lost' sight of them…woods always stayed the same.” (327). While the woods manage to continually stay the same, Andy wants to stay the same too because she is scared of growing up. The woods are where she can do manly activities such as hunting, fishing and camping with her father. According to Andy, she thinks of the woods as peaceful and relaxing, even when the snow hits the grounds making the woods sparkle and shimmer. When they got to the campsite, they immediately started heading out to hunt for a doe. Andy describes the woods as always being the same, but she claims that “If they weren't there, everything would be quieter, and the woods would be the same as before. But they are here and so it's all different.” (329) By them being in the woods, everything is different, and Andy hates different. The authors use of literary elements contributes to the effect of the theme by explaining what the setting means to Andy. The woods make Andy happy and she wants to be there all the time, but meanwhile the woods give Andy a realization that she must grow up. Even though the woods change she must change as
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.
Since its first appearance in the 1886 collection A White Heron and Other Stories, the short story A White Heron has become the most favorite and often anthologized of Sarah Orne Jewett. Like most of this regionalist writer's works, A White Heron was inspired by the people and landscapes in rural New England, where, as a little girl, she often accompanied her doctor father on his visiting patients. The story is about a nine-year-old girl who falls in love with a bird hunter but does not tell him the white heron's place because her love of nature is much greater. In this story, the author presents a conflict between femininity and masculinity by juxtaposing Sylvia, who has a peaceful life in country, to a hunter from town, which implies her discontent with the modernization?s threat to the nature.
As the audience already knows that there are many tales that are told in the story. These stories are the base for what has to come later in the sections. These stories have lessons and hidden meanings that will show through the mothers and daughters. For example, the first part of the book is “Feathers from a Thousand Li Away” is intended to teach the reader about hope, which is symbolized by the swan. One of the mothers in the story has a feather from the swan and in hopes, one day give it to her daughter and tell her the struggles that the family had to go through to have a better life. This wish is a very difficult one to come true because of a
“Perhaps the most obvious meaning of "’A White Heron’" comes from the female creation, or re-creation, myth Jewett offers. The story presents a little girl whose world is entirely female. No brother, father, uncle, or grandfather lives in it; the men have feuded and left or died. Only she and her grandmother inhabit the rural paradise to which the child was removed after spending the first eight years of her life in a noisy manmade mill-town…In the country with her grandmother she is safe. Named Sylvia (Latin for "woods")” (Ammons
Life-altering decisions are often difficult to make and the long term consequences are rarely seen. For Sylvia, she had to make a difficult choice early in life. This particular choice could make her family richer but at the cost of a beautiful white heron seen by only a select few. In the end, Sylvia must decide between her personal happiness or to preserve the nature around her instead.
In A White Heron , the author, Sarah Orne Jewett, describes a young girl who interacts with a number of elements that cause her to discover who she is and what she stands for. Sylvia, being only nine years old and coming from a large family from the demanding city life , is moved to her grandmother’s remote farm where she finds herself to be comfortably isolated from the rest of the world. This, in fact, suits her lack of social ability, and so she finds herself becoming one with nature: both the plants and animals. When a young hunter, with whom she comes to admire greatly, comes along and tries to destroy apart of ‘her’, she finds herself in a conflicting position. Sarah Jewett’s writings had mainly avoided romantic topics by producing stories about people who use logic and independence over romantic inclinations. The author, Sarah Orne Jewett works to discern this sentimentality throughout this short story by using elements such as theme, internal conflict, and realism.
After investigating many creation myths, I have narrowed it down to two myths which I believe relate closest to the creation myth of Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
Imagine an island run by young boys without a single adult... In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, an English plane with a group of young boys crashes on an unknown island in the midst of World War II. The pilots are dead, so there are no adults, and the boys are forced to begin governing themselves. The young boys are forced with the conflict of working towards creating a civilization or succumbing to chaos, violence, and savagery. Eventually the boys decide on a leader and split up into different roles on the island. Ralph is appointed as the leader, and Piggy assumes the position as his “lieutenant.” Over time tension grows among the boys, and savagery begins taking over. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy represents the rational and intellectual side of civilization.
Her youth and innocence are emphasised by her relaxed nature- ‘Sylvia had all the time there was.’ ( ). However, when Sylvia sees a hunter walking in the woods, she is easily startled, but is also distracted by his handsome features as she takes him into her home. Sylvia is able to put aside her love for the natural world and is more focused on impressing the hunter. Even though Sylvia is too young for the hunter this is the first time that she's developed a crush. The passage states, “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.” (. ). Because this hunter loves the birds and can share interesting facts about how they live, Sylvia is able to enjoys being in his company and when he asks for Sylvia's help to find the white heron, She is more than eager to. For example the passage states, “What a spirit of adventure, what wild ambition! What fancied triumph and delight and glory for the later morning when she could make known the secret! It was almost too great for the childish heart to bear.” ( )
Ships are a huge part of the story. Hal’s ship (The Heron) is his pride and joy, and the entire culture of Skandia, which is heavily based on Vikings, is a sea-based community. Boys that go through Brotherband training often join the same crews and spend years raiding, sailing, and relaxing together, and the ships are a central part to this. On chapter six, Hal says, “he exulted in the feeling of being underway, at the helm [steering platform] of his own ship”. This basically describes the Skandian love for ships and sailing.
It would be accurate to say that Sigmund Freud in The Future of an Illusion and Jerzy Kosinski in The Painted Bird both take very pessimistic views when it comes to human nature and by association the state of nature. Given their combined sound arguments and experiences it is hard to see how one could find Marx’s ideas in the Communist Manifesto a plausible plan to create a sound and just society. On the other hand is the relatively optimistic John Mill. In his work On Liberty, Mill emphasizes the importance of personal liberty, individualism, and rationality in keeping society fair and just to all people. Combating illusions that would cause people to force their opinions onto others and restrict their rights. Similar to Freud's argument on illusions, and compatible with Kosinski’s ideas of human nature inside of society. Mill’s ideas strike the final nail in Marx’s coffin. Proving that violent rebellion against a ruling minority and forcefully suppressing
That is the basic plot of the story, but the book means so much more. It casts many questions about society at the time the book was published. The author
In the passage the author uses similes and metaphors of mystery and light vs dark to show his attraction to the women's stories. In the first couple of lines he uses metaphors to describe the road and the environment around him. He is very anxious to hear the old woman talk about her stories, he compares it to the shedding of skin. The women's stories are helped to be imagined by personification “shadows stood up and walked” (line 19).
This week I really enjoyed reading “A White Heron”. I am an avid animal lover and animal activist, so give me a story about a girl looking for her family cow and I’m in! I grew up in the country on a farm, I never had a “neighborhood gang” or neighbors in general. My sister was younger than me, so when it came to play mates I just had the wild animals I could find. We had a pond and now and then we had our own white heron that would wade in the waters. This was the first story I read, and I’m glad I chose to read this first. The little girl, from her scarred demeanor in the beginning to her fearless climbing, she was me when I was little. Both my parents worked, so most of my time spent was with my Ma. Yet another reason I associate with Sylvia.