Sarah Jewett’s, “A White Heron”

In Sarah Jewett’s, “A White Heron”, the author brings to life, Sylvia; a young girl who adores nature.  Sylvia can be found, most days, outside, playing and taking in the woods that surround her grandmother’s tiny farm.  Sylvia shows appreciation of the active, slumber some forest by reflecting on her days of living in an industrial town; it had no life like the woods!  Jewett shows this respect of Sylvia’s character through her journey of fetching her grandmother’s cow and her unwavering loyalty towards the white heron.  She has no inclination of real human interaction as can be observed when seeing the hunter stranger for the first time.  As the day goes by, Sylvia becomes infatuated with the handsome man.  When she learns of his interests in collecting and stuffing rare birds, Jewett shows a real struggle with both characters.  Sylvia is reluctant to tell him where he may find the rare white heron and the hunter presses her for the vital information.  The climax of the story seems to be the discovery by Silvia of the rare bird after an exhausting climb up an old pine tree.  The beauty of the panoramic view, once atop the tree and the discovery of the nest and the heron flying about; solidifies Sylvia’s dedication to nature.  Jewett shares their moment, watching the morning come alive. After she makes the harrowing descent down the tree, another poignant moment comes when the hunter asks her again if she has seen the white heron.  Sylvia’s decision not to reveal the secret nesting ground proves worthwhile as the hunter spends the rest of his few days killing birds for his collection.  In the end, Jewett asks us to decipher our loyalties.