‘A White Heron’ By Sarah Orne Jewett
Thesis Statement: Sylvia’s nighttime quest is really a journey into herself.
In Sara Orne Jewett’s ‘A White Heron’, we are introduced to a shy, withdrawn and lonely young girl, Sylvia. When Sylvia has a unlikely encounter with a handsome young hunter, shy finds herself torn between the longing for his affection, material treasures and her own devotion to the wilderness and the animals that have taken her in. It is not until Sylvia embarks on a dangerous midnight quest that she fully understands and embraces who she is.
From the very first scene in this story, we get a revealing insight into Sylvia’s character. She is a young child, probably nine years old. She has been living on her ...
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does not have any playmates; in fact, we get the impression that her best friend is her grandmother’s cow. The story soon gives us another piece of vital information about Sylvia.
“ “‘Afraid of folks,’” old Mrs. Tilley said to
herself, with a smile, after she had made the
unlikely choice of Sylvia from her daughter’s
houseful of children, and was returning to the
farm. “‘Afraid of folks,’ they said: I guess she
won’t be troubled no great with ‘em up to the old
place!” When the reached the door of the lonely
house and stopped to unlock it, and the cat came
to purr loudly, and rub against them, a deserted
pussy, indeed, but fat with young robins, Sylvia
whispered that this was a beautiful place to live
in, and she never should wish to go home.”
From this, we can see that Sylvia had not always lived in the country. She grew up in a crowded manufacturing town and was never happy there. She is not comfortable around other people. Sylvia’s natural ...
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to Sylvia, but she cannot even look at him. He has to ask her twice for her name before she reluctently gives it to him. We clearly see that Sylvia does not know how to act around strangers, especially men. It’s important to notice also how Sylvia’s first thought is whether or not her grandmother will blame her for ‘such an accident.’ Perhaps this is part of the reason that Sylvia is so withdrawn from other people. She automatically assumes that her talking to a man out it the woods is a ‘bad’ thing.
When Sylvia and the hunter arrive at the grandmother’s house, Sylvia is surprised and relieved that her grandmother is not angry at all, in fact, she is very hospitable to the young ...
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‘A White Heron’ By Sarah Orne Jewett. (2007, July 5). Retrieved April 19, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-White-Heron-Sarah-Orne-Jewett/67494
"‘A White Heron’ By Sarah Orne Jewett." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 5 Jul. 2007. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-White-Heron-Sarah-Orne-Jewett/67494>
"‘A White Heron’ By Sarah Orne Jewett." Essayworld.com. July 5, 2007. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-White-Heron-Sarah-Orne-Jewett/67494.
"‘A White Heron’ By Sarah Orne Jewett." Essayworld.com. July 5, 2007. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-White-Heron-Sarah-Orne-Jewett/67494.
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