AWhiteHeron

A White Heron

Recently, I learnt a novel named “A White Heron”. I like the story. A White Heron, written by Sarah Oren Jewett, is a shortstory about love, companionship, and choice, first published in 1886.

The story takes place in the woods during a summer evening in June as a young girl is walking her cow home through thedark woods. The girl, Sylvia, performs this task with regularity because the cow often hides away. The cow even holds itselfstill so that it does not disturb the bell around its neck. The child puts up with the cow's behavior because it provides goodand plentiful milk. Sylvia does not have anything better to do with her time than watching over Mistress Moolly, the cow. Sheis startled by the sudden appearance of a young man with a gun, who proclaims that he is an ornithologist and has come tothis rural land to hunt, kill, and stuff birds for his pleasure. When he entreats Sylvia's aid, she leads him to her grandmother'sfarm. Sylvia has come to live with Mrs. Tilley to both escape the industrial city where her mother struggles alone to supportthe family and to be a help and companion to her grandmother. The young stranger both charms the grandmother and

interests the granddaughter and enlists their help, by offering much needed cash, in locating the nest of a rare white heron.Although the next day Sylvia meekly accompanies the young man on his quest, they fail to find their prey. At dawn on thefollowing day, Sylvia awakes and scales a

massive and ancient pine in search of the heron and its nest. From her vantage point atop the tree, Sylvia glimpses theheron, its nest, and its mate, and she experiences an epiphany. When she returns to the farm later that morning, Sylviaguards her secret.

In this novel, external conflict, which is the rural setting where Sylvia lived against the urban setting from which the huntercomes and internal conflict, which is the main conflict coexist. The main conflict in \"A White Heron\" focuses on Sylvia'sinternal battle of whether or not to reveal the location of the white heron。When an appealing ornithologist comes to theMaine woods, young Sylvia must decide whether to please her new friend by showing him the nesting place of the heron hewishes to kill for his collection, or remain loyal to her animal companions. Although the nine-year-old girl would never

consider her situation in these terms, the decision Sylvia must make is the choice between flesh and spirit—between earthlyhuman pleasures and the natural world. As the story progresses Sylvia is challenged with whether or not she should tell thehunter she saw the bird. She also discovers her passion for country life and her love and values for the animals that inhabit it.At the end, the hunter leaves, disappointed, and the girl, Sylvia, lose her first human friend with keeping the secret.In this novel, the symbolism is used frequently. One of the clearest examples is the constant appearance of the colors whitethroughout the

story, for instance, the “white” heron, the cow’s “white” milk, and Sylvi a’s pale “white” skin. Among of them, the white heronare meaningful and it symbolizes a few things. First, the heron symbolizes Sylvia's dedication and connection to nature.Sylvia has a special connection to and love for nature. She immediately connects to it when she is in it. Since she does nottell the hunter about the heron, she is connected to it. She recognizes the beauty and significance of it. The heron symbolizesnature and its importance and aesthetic beauty. They are graceful and delicate creatures. Besides, the color white alsorepresents the purity of rural life.

The tall tree in the forest that Sylvia climbs symbolizes clarity of thought. It is from her lofty perch that Sylvia sees all and fromthis lofty perch that Sylvia realizes the heron's life is more valuable than $10.And the hunter symbolizes the intrusion ofcivilization and technology.

After learning this novel under the guide of my teacher, my understanding about this novel is deepened sharply.

First, mankind should be harmony with nature as well as culture. Sarah shows her admiration for nature through the eyes ofSylvia. When Sylvia reached the top of the pine tree, she saw the bewilderingly sun, clouds that were purple and rose-colored and yellow at first began to fade away and the handsome white heron. All those are bestowed by Mother Nature.Sylvia could feel her innate part belongs to nature. Her life was restored

since she lived in the countryside. The beautiful and unexploited scenery indicate that nature benefit our life. However, thefrail nature is facing many crisis imposed by mankind. The hunter is an intruder of nature and Sylvia’s peaceful life. Sarahcalls him as an ornithologist, which means he also represent science. The young man hunted and stuffed the bird meansscience conflict with nature, yet he can use another way to admire the birds instead of killing them. Sylvia’s choice indicatesthat culture and nature need a peaceful coexistence.

The process of growth is a painstaking one, and the process of learning is lonely. The ancient pine tree represents the tree oflife. Sylvia struggle to climb up the top symbolized she was struggling between the temptation of the material world and theinnocent nature. Finally, she reached the top and saw the sunlight. Light represent human wisdom. She gained

enlightenment at the top of the wisdom tree. However, climbing upward requires one to against all odds and to make difficultchoices. First, she must mount the white oak tree that grew alongside, and then she made the dangerous pass from one treeto another. The path to success is not a straight one; it contains a lot of twist and turns. Meanwhile, the process of learning isa process of self-reflection and contemplation. Sylvia climbed up and down the tree all by herself. She had no one to rely on.Finally, Innocence is lost once we make a choice. Although Sylvia is

lonely in the woodland, yet she is happy with her animal friends. Life is simple at that time, she don’t have to make any

choices. However, one day a generous intruder offered them money in exchange for the white heron. He is such a handsomeand energetic young man that captures her heart without the slightest effort. Sylvia had to struggle between her virginal loveand her innate moral. She had to sacrifice one of them to protect the other. During the contemplation and self-reflection, shewas no longer the innocent happy girl she used to be.

The smart human-being use all the means to challenge and change the nature. Unfortunately, man’s efforts always failed.Nature always exists in their own ways According to Tom, history, both nature and artificial moves through time in a greatuncharitable circle, while mankind may continually struggle to put reins on the movement of natural history through the use ofscience and technology. But little progress is ever made. Again and again, the powerful cycles of history turn their strugglesinto futile attempts.

In human’s unconsciousness, there is a set of code about gender roles, for example, man should be aggressive, brave,active, sensible, while women should be weak, innocent, gentle, emotional, etc. Bonding between female and naturesymbolizes productivity, balance, harmony, and bonding between male and civilization is symbolized by science andtechnology.

“A White Heron” is one of Jewett's most well-known and often anthologized short stories. In it, Jewett presents a nine-year-old girl's reaction to the intrusion of a young man into her feminine and natural world. The varieties of narrative techniques,symbols, and imagery, as well as the ambiguous ending, have elicited much critical commentary by scholars. Several

feminist scholars view this work as Jewett's rebellion against the realistic literature that male authors made the mainstreamliterature of the late nineteenth century. In my opinion \"A White Heron\" embodies two contradictory literary schools--romanticism and realism. The story shares Romantic ideals, the importance of nature and the individual, yet its style, use ofdetails, realistic settings, and realistic people exemplifies realism.

In conclusion, this novel impressed me deeply and I learn many things from it. Famous work can be studied from differentperspective; all above it’s my own understanding about it.