A White Heron

Infobox short story |
name = A White Heron
title_orig =
translator =
author = Sarah Orne Jewett
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Short story
published_in =
publication_type =
publisher = Houghton-Mifflin
media_type = Print
pub_date = 1886
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
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"A White Heron" is a short story by Sarah Orne Jewett, first published by Houghton-Mifflin 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 New England 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 Miss Mooly, 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. 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, Jewett, as omniscient observer, urges nature to reward her for her selflessness by offering her its secrets.

Major themes

Sylvia is a lonely little girl living with her grandmother on a farm in the woods of New England. This story shows that Sylvia, as well as the white heron, are lonely and free beings. Sylvia lived in a manufacturing town and now is in the rural countryside, thus feeling a wonderful new freedom. “…as for Sylvia herself, it seemed as if she never had been alive at all before she came to live on the farm.” Sylvia has this bond with this heron, and thus she does not disclose where its nest is to the hunter. Sylvia’s passion was the country life and the animals that roamed free. The white heron was a symbol of freedom, something that she did not have until she moved in with her grandmother in New England. By climbing the tree to see the bird, Sylvia wanted to see what the bird saw and try to understand the bird's life

There is also the idea of a young girl, living with her grandmother, and a female cow. A man enters into their life. Since this young girl is close to puberty, she begins to have new kinds of feelings toward this young hunter. She wants to please him by finding and showing him where the white heron lives. She desperately wants to please him – to have a feeling of self-worth. However, when she actually sees the bird, she is so overwhelmed by its beauty that she decides that she cannot condemn it.

Literary significance & criticism

There is a connection between Sylvia, her grandmother, and the cow. All three are female and living a gentle, comfortable – but yet poor – life. Along comes the male hunter from the city to threaten their daily easy-going life style. This could possibly change their lives and upset the tranquility of nature.

Sylvia begins to understand what it means to have maturity and to overcome her selfishness as a child. Her innocence in putting the heron first before taking money shows how, in a short time, Sylvia has grown. However, she continues with an innocent goal of placing more value on the wonderful bird than on money. The Power of nature proved to be much greater for her. Many people would have given away the location of the bird and took the money and ran. Also her relationship with nature was much stronger than any human connections she had up to this point in her life, and she knows she receives more satisfaction from nature than from the money she could have received from the hunter.

White plays a big part in this story also, possibly in a racial aspect. The “white” heron, the cow’s “white” milk, and Sylvia’s pale “white” skin. Plus, Sylvia came from a manufacturing town to a wonderful natural setting – will she protect the “white bird from the intruder hunter?

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
*"A White Heron," Sarah Orne Jewett Criticism and Essays, enotes.com