Sarah Orne Jewett - A White Heron

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was from New England and her father was a doctor who went daily and visited patients. As he did, Sarah would tag along as he visited his patients. Since Sarah was a sickly child, she didn’t attend school regularly so she would read her father’s books. Through these books, she gathered most of her education. She exposed herself to many different types of books and by 1863; she had decided to be a writer herself. Being fearful of being known, she used anonymous names since she was only fourteen years old when she began.
Through out her life, she watched the local people and wanted to record the lives and legends of the farmers and villagers that she lived around. By the time she was eighteen, she had published her first story and by 1869, at the age of twenty, she was accepted by one of America’s most respected journals which launched her career.
In her writings, she wanted to portray the lives of the men and women of her native state in the urban setting. Her stories show suffering, sympathy, kindness and sensitivity. She enjoyed writing about what seems as hopeless situations to in return show good for bad with compassion and hope.
One of her most praised writings was a fiction story called “A White Heron.” In this story, the main character is a young girl named Sylvia who spent the first with years of her life in the industrial part of the city, but has now moved to the country with her grandmother. She enjoys the outdoors and is at one with nature. As her grandmother puts it, she can tame squirrels, and draw birds just to feed them. She is a nature lover and knows the land she lives on well.
One day as Sylvia was out gathering up the cow to bring in for milking, she runs into a stranger with a gun that gives her a fright. He follows her home and invites himself to stay the night so he can rise early the next morning to hunt birds. Eventually Sylvia eases her nervousness of the young man and the next day she follows him on his quest seeking a white heron. Sylvia is fascinated with his knowledge of bird and is tempted to tell him of her knowledge of the white heron as he present ten dollars for the location of the white heron’s nest. Sylvia knows but doesn’t know what she should do.
That evening as they all turn in for the night, Sylvia’s thoughts are filled with a large pine tree that she believes if she could climb, she could see the ocean and locate the white heron’s nest. Her excitement sends her out dawn and she goes out to climb the tree to confirm what she already felt in her heart. She could see the ocean and she even sees the white heron soar through the air. As she is atop that tree, she is in awe of all the delight and wonder that surrounds her. As the young man and her grandmother wake to find her missing, they start to search for her as she is returning home. In her amazement, she keeps her adventure a secret and doesn’t reveal the white heron’s whereabouts.
This story is a beautiful story with a little suspense. It leaves you wondering if Sylvia’s fascination will overcome her and cause her to tell of the white heron’s location. This story also gives great details as to the forest and the mindset of Sylvia. When she is standing in the top of that pine tree, I could almost see her sights and feel her emotions as she gazed all around. Great story!