White Heron Essay Paper 1 PDF

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I have not been given back my essay yet for White Heron but this should be used as a reference instead of submitting this as your own work. I will upload class notes alongside this so that you can see the breakdown of Pimomo's class and be able to understand his method of teaching. ...

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Hall 1 Jessica Lynn Hall Dr. Pimomo English 303: Principles of English 23 May 2018 Child of Nature Basic human need falls under three categories: food, water, shelter. Currently and in the past, people get their resources all from the same place. This place is known as nature, or the world people live in, as nature encompasses everything. Nature, as the subject of Sarah Jewett’s White Heron, is represented by Sylvia who is an 8-year-old little girl that finds her place amongst her animal friends. Upon further research, Sylvia’s name is derived from Sylvian, meaning woods. The theme of this story lies around the two major characters Sylvia and the Ornithologist, also known as the hunter and the young sportsman. Sylvia represents the innocent, pure, more unconditional love to nature as it is implied that she is a child of nature whereas the Ornithologist represents the conditional love of nature. The contents of this paper will be discussing why. In the beginning of the story, the narrator paints a beautiful picture of Sylvia “driving home” her grandmother’s cow, Mrs. Moolly. Throughout the first paragraph, Jewett’s readers are told that even the grandmother who is deeply tied with nature has a conditional relationship with Nature’s creatures. “If the creature had not given good milk and plenty of it, the case would have seemed very different to her owners” (Jewett 1886). This leads the reader to conclude that, while the grandmother may love nature, she only loves nature if she can get something out of it. Young Sylvia is at least starting to understand this as there is a basic human need for food and water, so it is vital to be able to take what one needs from Nature as She is the provider.

Hall 2 Jewett (1886) continues laying out the scene, describing young Sylvia’s connection with nature as one that gives Sylvia a sense of belonging. In the hustle and bustle of city life, the narrator claims that Sylvia has not been growing despite living the past 8 years in the manufacturing city. “Everybody said that it was a good change for the little maid who had tried to grow for eight years in a crowded manufacturing town, but, as for Sylvia herself, it seemed as if she had never been alive at all before she came to live at the farm.” (Jewett 1886). It is important at this point to note that not only did the people in Sylvia’s life claim that her potential was stunted, but Sylvia herself claims this to be true. Through the comments of characters in Sylvia’s life and through Sylvia’s eyes, Jewett continues to drive home the point that Sylvia belongs with nature. The moment that Sylvia steps onto the farm, she starts growing comfortable enough in her own skin to be able to express herself to not only animals but to people. Mrs. Tilley makes comments that imply that people in Sylvia’s household saw her as someone who is afraid of other people. Upon getting to know Sylvia and watching her open up after living amongst Nature, Mrs. Tilley scoffs at this notion. “‘Afraid of folks,’ said Mrs. Tilley to herself with a smile, ‘Afraid of folks, they said! I guess she won’t be troubled no great with ‘em up at the old place.’” Furthermore, another major comment that is expressed by Mrs. Tilley, the loving grandmother in the story, is spoken towards the Ornithologist, who can be argued as the second major player of White Heron. “There ain’t a foot o’ ground she don’t know her way over, and the wild creatures counts her as one o’ themselves. Squerl’s she’ll tame to come an’ feed right out of her hand and all sorts of birds.” (Jewett 1886). As for the Ornithologist, he is a young sportsman that has been traversing the terrain and is in much need of food and shelter. When he sees Sylvia, it appears that he does not take note of

Hall 3 her wariness towards him as a stranger. After all, should the sportsman have approached a girl like Sylvia currently, the first notion or thought of the little girl would be ‘stranger danger!’ and instead of inviting the man in and being his hostess, the grandmother would have shunned him away from the household. Moreover, she would be calling the police, not serving him milk from her cow. The Ornithologist opens to her and lets her know what he has been doing, which is the first sign of trust, so it is not like he is here to persuade the girl into doing anything with dishonesty. “‘I have been hunting for some birds,’ the stranger said kindly, ‘and I have lost my way, and need a friend very much. Don’t be afraid,” he added gallantly, ‘Speak up and tell me what your name is, and whether you think I can spend the night at your house and go out early in the morning.’” So, at least through Sylvia’s eyes, the stranger seems kind due to the use of ‘kindly’ and ‘gallantly.’ Sylvia, being an 8-year-old little girl, at least understands at this point that she should not pester her grandmother to let a young sportsman stay at the house. Through experience, people have potentially been in this scenario where they overthink things and overanalyze situations even though the worst-case scenario Sylvia would receive a scolding and send the hunter on his way. Furthermore, Jewett continues to paint the hunter with a sense of humbleness; a trait that he very well should employ since Mrs. Tilley certainly does not have to invite him in. Today it is believed that first impressions can have detrimental effects. The portrayal of this young sportsman as a grateful, charming good listener seems to help the readers perception of his character. However, when Mrs. Tilley makes the comment about how the wild creatures consider Sylvia one of their own and how she can tame squirrels and birds to feed right out of her hand. There is a shift in the Ornithologist’s character the moment that he spots an opportunity. As it is

Hall 4 his profession, it is at least understandable why Sylvia’s close connection with Nature would be of use to him. “‘So Sylvy knows all about birds, does she?’ he exclaimed, as he looked around at the little girl who sat, very demure, but increasingly sleepy in the moonlight.” (Jewett 1886). After this, the hunter continues to describe his job of collecting and stuffing the birds. The reason why this is brought up is because noting a shift in character keeps giving the readers hints of the possible underlying motives of the character’s personality that can help readers gage whether to trust the character or not. Some interesting patterns that should be noted are the relational dynamics between Sylvia, nature, and the characters of this story to continue expressing the textual analysis part of this essay. Sylvia herself is a young 8-year-old little girl who is just starting to get an inkling of how the world works around her. Yet she is still naïve and innocent and has not seen the true treasures that this world has to offer. In the beginning, when Jewett (1886) first describes Sylvia, she talks about how Sylvia is walking with an old cow named Mrs. Moolly. Not only is there the old cow, but there is also the grandmother as well as the great tree that Sylvia climbs in order to see the White Heron. There seems to be this young/old relationship dynamic between Sylvia and nature. Further patterns are the colors that Jewett chooses to pick out that are symbolisms but those will be interpreted in the interpretation section of this paper. The colors that Jewett (1886) uses to describe the characters and environments in the story that stick out are gray, which is in between black and white. Finally, there are the gray feathers of the hawks and the grayish-ness of the clouds. Now, for the fun part! There are many different interpretations, but the overall goal of the argument of this essay is that Sylvia is the pure, organic, unconditional love towards nature. One relational dynamic that Jewett (1886) expresses in her story is the relational dynamic of Sylvia

Hall 5 and the ancient tree that is on her grandmother’s farm. The way that Sylvia is described climbing the tree portrays a mother cradling her daughter, as discussed in class. Further interpretations of the relational dynamic could be challenges that Sylvia faces to gain the location of the hidden treasures to give to the hunter (Jewett 1886). An interesting note to make regarding how the tree is described is this “And the tree stood still and frowned away the winds that June morning while the dawn grew bright in the east” (Jewett 1886). The use of the verb ‘frowned’ could be describing the way that humans could view the situation of the tree and Sylvia. Humans in popular culture often place human emotions onto other creatures or living beings that are not human so while the reader does not know if the tree is really frowning, this could be symbolizing the disapproval of Sylvia’s attempt to use the tree to exploit the location of the White Heron. The use of the color gray, as foretold in the textual analysis portion of this essay, has the symbolism of ‘dullness’ and ‘confusion.’ Gray is in between black and white or darkness and innocence as the color black is often associated with mysteries and nighttime. Sylvia’s gray eyes could be a metaphorical use of how Sylvia is in this in between stage where she has been exposed to the hunter’s destructive ways. Furthermore, the color gray for eyes could be used in a similar manner as to the metaphor ‘rose-colored glasses’ which is often chosen to describe people who are living in a stage of blissful denial. In any case, these gray eyes are used as a lens through which Sylvia sees the world. Jewett (1886) portrays young sportsman as a charming, humble person who seems interested in Sylvia’s grandmother’s quaint conversations but he, in this specific interpretation, represents the destructive path. He gives Sylvia a knife to which the two characters have a sort of moment that is in the sense of ‘Join me in my path. Give up the heron’s location.’ This is indicated by the narrator in the story through this passage: “And he gave her a jack-knife which

Hall 6 she thought a treasure as if she were a desert-islander” (Jewett 1886). This gives the sense of Sylvia experiencing infatuation with this hunter’s ways, and it seems that she will follow through with giving up the heron’s location because this is the first time she has felt any sort of connection with another person at this level. While she is still only an 8-year-old little girl, Jewett (1886) tells of the woman inside Sylvia that stirs at the notion of love. Overall, it seems that the hunter does not truly wish to be by Sylvia’s side as much as he wants the White Heron, or the chance to earn his keep through exploiting the resources of nature. The reason for this stance is through the switch of viewpoint from Sylvia to the hunter after Sylvia has finished her task of locating the White Heron’s nest. In the Sylvia’s viewpoint, she gets all excited at the endless possible scenarios of how the hunter will react positively to her finding the location of the White Heron. Regarding the hunter towards Sylvia, the viewpoint switches to him waking up from a dream. “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.” (Jewett 1886). His concern is not for Sylvia, but for the capturing of the white heron. It is shown in the way he describes Sylvia approaching him and the grandmother: he speaks of her dress as ‘worn old frock is torn and tattered and smeared with pine pitch.’ Sylvia would only describe the hunter as ‘handsome’ and ‘charming’ as she does not focus on the flaws. Of course, being an 8 year-old little girl might have something to deal with her conception of ‘love’ and ‘companionship’ but nonetheless, this is how Jewett (1886) portrays the two characters. White Heron is not a story that surrounds the different types of love that the Ornithologist has for Sylvia or that Sylvia has for the Ornithologist; rather, in this essay, the main focus is the difference between conditional and unconditional love told through the two major characters of

Hall 7 the story. In the middle of the plot, Sylvia is willing to give up the hidden treasures and perception that she has achieved while climbing the ancient tree. However, when push comes to shove and Sylvia approaches the hunter and her grandmother, it is as if a seal has been placed on her mouth and she cannot give away the bird’s presence. What is this hidden treasure that she is keeping from the hunter? While there are many different interpretations of the true meaning of the story or of the hidden treasure, the meaning that stands out the most is the hidden beauty of nature as well as not allowing others to exploit one’s self. Sylvia truly embodies the unconditional love towards nature in which there is no foreseen benefit in saving the Heron but there were so many endless possibilities with the hunter. Simply put, Sylvia has come to understand that humans do not own nature. Rather, humans are children of nature and that nature is not ours to sell, as Sylvia does not sell the White Heron.

Hall 8 Works Cited Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. A White Heron, a Story of Maine. New York: Crowell, 1963....