Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron"

I am embarrassed to say I don’t recall ever knowing of Sarah Orne Jewett or her works. After reading this story, which I did enjoy, I would be interested in seeking out her children’s books to review. From her biography, it seems she would be a poster child for advocates of hands-on learning. I found it interesting her belief of “the best of my education was received in my father’s buggy and the places to which it carried me”. I do believe we can learn more, if not at least as much, seeing and doing as we can sitting in a classroom receiving lecture.

As happens frequently as I read, my inquisitive mind began to try to predict what was going to happen with young Sylvia. First, as a parent of girls in this day and age, I was taken back that this young girl would be out in the woods in the late evening hours alone. I had to remind myself of the times in which this story was written there wasn’t as much need for safety concerns as today. However, the story did reveal Sylvia’s apprehension at coming face to face to this young man in the woods. He seemed to disrupt the safe world she had created for herself on this small farm with her grandmother, away from her large family and the village people. I found it interesting the quickness the grandmother accepted him into her home and the genuine hospitality she afforded him. I thought how few of us today would be so trusting and open with a stranger showing up on our door step seeking food and shelter. He turned out to be no danger to Sylva or her grandmother, but a much bigger danger to the natural world of the area.

I felt the inner struggle of right and wrong was depicted by Sylvia’s character. While she became intrigued with the young man, even to the point of her “woman’s heart thrilled by a dream of love” and was also tempted by the offer of money to reveal the location of the heron, she fought the desires. I believe climbing the pine tree and experiencing the heights of the heron’s world, as she stood atop the tree, she realized the worth of the bird’s life and found the resolve to retain its location within her mind.