Phase 2

Sarah Orne Jewett’s short story titled, “A White Heron” was written in 1886. This more ‘modern’ fairy tale, as some have called it, focuses on the story of a little girl and her fascination with finding the white heron. In the process of looking for this incredible, rare bird, the girl’s eyes are opened bigger than they have ever been before. 

            Jewett’s fictional story, begins by showing the audience the daily ritual of its main character, Sylvia. Everyday, Sylvia goes out into the fields, by herself, to collect her grandmother’s old ‘moo-cow’, their milking cow. At this point, the author chooses to show the character Sylvia, to the audience, rather than having someone talk about her. The audience sees that Sylvia does not have any friends or any entertainment in her day, other than this errand of bringing the cow back to their farm (Jewett 67). The audience sees how Sylvia turns this simple chore into a fascinating game, enjoying every bit of it. It is almost mythical how she gets so much enjoyment out of this activity.

            The story seems to be going along quite pleasantly on this one afternoon. Jewett uses very descriptive words to make the story appear clean and crisp, nothing bad has happened or even thought to happen, yet. Suddenly, the tone of the story changes and the words “horror-stricken” are used (68). At this point, a man hunting in the woods unpleasantly greets Sylvia. To the audience, Sylvia has just run into ‘an enemy’.  This part of the story is written very differently than the rest.  Clearly, this event was quite upsetting to Sylvia. In the fairy tale sense, this seems like it is the highpoint or climax of the story, however it is not. Compared to Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood”, this appears to have a strong correlation to Red’s run-in with the wolf in the woods, heading to her grandmother’s house.  The feeling the audience gets at this point, in both stories, is the same. Of course, it is a fictional feeling, backed with little worry, but it is a feeling of wondering what huge event is about to happen. For Red, she was about to meet her fate, after the wolf raced her back to her grandmother’s house to eat them both. However, for Sylvia, this moment is a bit different. The strange man briefly questions Sylvia and asks her for a place to stay, moments later the two are walking up her grandmother’s driveway, completely safe and sound (68).

            Upon arriving at the house, the man in instantly greeted, on the porch, by the grandmother, Mrs. Tilley. Unlike with Red, where the wolf tricked the grandmother into letting him in before eating her, the stranger showed himself in true form and asked the grandmother if he could stay.  The grandmother spent a while talking to the stranger about Sylvia, her connection with animals, and her love for living there. The stranger was very thankful for his accommodations and immediately questioned the pair on his reason for being there. The stranger spoke quite eloquently of this white heron bird that had been spotted in this area, that he wanted to find, shoot, and mount. The author immediately declares him an ornithologist, and nothing more about his job or hobby is discussed other than finding this bird. Again, the way he talks about finding the bird, and Sylvia’s ability to completely ignore his conversation brings about quite a mythical and fairytale- like feeling.

            At this point, the story seems to dwindle down, as if the climax has already occurred and there is nothing else left to happen. The next day Sylvia goes with the man to look for the bird. At the end of the day, she comes across the tree, which she could see for miles from, if she could only climb to the top of it (72). The following day, Sylvia decides she will wake up early and run off alone to this tree, climb it, and find this white heron. Sylvia spends quite a while climbing the tree and scaling across its great limbs, high into the sky. When she reaches the top she describes, beautifully, all that she can see, including the mysterious bird (73). Hurrying down and back to the house, the story is ending. All of a sudden, this event is the new climax and the story is again in its downfall. Jewett uses many literary ‘grabbers’ to keep the attention of the audience while still continuing with the story. All of this continues to add mystery to the story; there is a constant sense of wonder felt throughout the characters and audience. Sylvia is determined to tell her worried grandmother and the man all about where the heron lives and how to catch it, up until she gets home. When they ask her where she has been, the sense of mystery comes in again, and she cannot speak. Suddenly, Sylvia realizes that this secret she has found is worth all its wonder, to herself, not them. All the man wants to do is kill the bird, which fascinates her (75).

            Jewett clearly thought using the skewed fairy-tale route would be an effective way to get her story across. And it seems to be a successful method, the mythical points in the story pop out and create an allusion of wonder and beauty, just like a fairytale story. This theme of wonder and secrecy is quite clearly illuminated through this type of story, and Jewett shows this throughout, “A White Heron”.