The Symbolic Layer of A White Heron

As the operate of a regionalist writer, Jewett’s quick story ‘A White Heron’ consists of symbols that reflect the impact which drastic changes in landscape have had on these who are sympathetic to nature, such as Jewett herself. Jewett’s 1st-hand experience of a little and remote region overtaken by sector has therefore allowed her to make a story which negatively represents industrialization. In ‘A White Heron’, Jewett conveys her message by employing the young man – the bird hunter – to symbolize business and Sylvia to symbolize nature.

It is not uncommon for literary pieces to portray nature with its bounty and beauty as a woman. For decades, the female gender has been perceived alongside and linked to that gentle, soothing gift which God has bestowed upon the planet – a symbol of one thing that offers far more than it receives, that feels compassion and mercy more than hatred and greed. Sylvia is the timid small girl who befriends the animals of the forest and becomes one particular with nature. Even though Sylvia lives her humble days quietly, her peace is suddenly intruded upon by a young man with a gun. He approaches kindly, and not extended after tends to make a great companion out of Sylvia. Sylvia finds this intruder fascinating, and at one point even dreams of romance with him. In the course of the times she has spent following the young man on his quest for birds and watched him shoot down “some unsuspecting singing creature from its bough,” Sylvia does not object to the man’s actions at all. She remains silent, docile, and but in her heart condemns the man’s actions – puzzles at the man’s show of his “love” for birds. Sylvia, representing nature and femininity as a complete, does not recognize why he shoots them and stuffs them if he adores birds so much. She considers that she would a lot prefer the young man with no his weapon, an notion which highlights her feminine instincts of tenderness and opposing violence.

Moreover, the common female passivity of Jewett’s time is emphasized by means of Sylvia’s complacence towards the young man. Even though Sylvia is the girl of the woods, the young man is nevertheless the one particular who leads their walks. She in no way requires charge, or argues with him about his killing of the birds. Therefore, not only has the young man disrupted Sylvia’s and nature’s peace, but he has also taken charge of the land in which he, as opposed to Sylvia, is a stranger to. His dominance is a perform of his own nature, along with the tiny girl as a representative, have been also naïve and innocent to see any explanation to drive him out, as well compassionate in accepting his presence, without questioning the way he appeared or doubting his intentions of staying. It doesn’t appear to dawn on Sylvia that the young man may possibly only be keeping her close for his personal advantage. Jewett has created it clear to readers that his major objective is to hunt down a white heron. When Mrs. Tilley, Sylvia’s grandmother, speaks about her outstanding “woods-girl” trait to the point that the wild creatures count her as one of their own, the man cannot help but be amused and develop a sudden, excellent interest towards the girl. He even offers Sylvia a jackknife, which she receives with excitement for and admiration of the masculinity, adventure, and violence it represents. The fact that she resents his killing of birds and but admires him for the robust man he is, and values the weapon he gifts her, symbolizes Sylvia as a lady falling victim to his manly energy: a frequent and occasionally fatal concept of a time which separated male and female roles and expectations. The young man, consequently, as the intruder who seeks to take benefit of Sylvia’s partnership with the wild, symbolizes business.

All through its narrative, Jewett’s story depicts the invasion of industrialization within nature, just as Jewett herself saw the secure, untainted landscape of her hometown overrun by the speedy growth of industrialization after the Civil War. Moreover, the white colour of the most sought-soon after heron symbolizes purity by maintaining the bird’s whereabouts a secret, Sylvia saves and preserves her own innocence. If she had permitted the young man to kill the white heron, her innocence would have died with the bird. Sylvia’s really like for nature in the finish prevails over her momentary interest in the young man. She at some point realizes that the young man’s really like was one of objectification. He objectifies nature, whereby every thing in it – all the trees and its inhabitants – are objects for the taking. As a result, a woman’s enjoy, or nature’s unselfish love, triumphs more than the possessive enjoy of man.