The Environment of the Heron

Social environment changes from person to person on a regular basis. In the short story “The White Heroin” by Sarah Orne Jewett the social environment changes in a way that changes the way Sylvia, the main character, views the world for the rest of her life. The choice between the young, attractive ornithologist and the white heron is not only the choice to not kill her bird but also the choice to have a better life filled with money and the ornithologist.

In the beginning of the story Jewett describes Sylvia’s slow life style that she has more recently become accustom to. She starts off making it seem very tranquil and slow, “The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening…A little girl was driving home her cow, a plodding, dilatory, provoking creature her behavior, but a valued companion for all that…” (Jewett, 1886, p. 1203). In doing this she shows her life before the interaction with the ornithologist.

Jewett continues with the story discussing Sylvia’s past and how she came to be on the farm with her grandmother. When she is describing the situation Sylvia was in she introduces the grandmother saying “Mrs. Tilley… made the unlucky choice of Sylvia from her daughter’s houseful of children,…” (Jewett, 1886, p. 1204). This part shows the reader that Sylvia does not think very highly of herself. It also shows that she views her grandmother in a different sense then what is typical because she titles her in a more formal way. This gives the reader a view of how Sylvia views the world.

As she continues to describe her walk in the woods with the cow it seems to be Sylvia’s safe place. Then she meets the ornithologist on the way home and she is scared, “Suddenly this little woods-girl is horror-stricken to hear a clear whistle not very far away. Nor a birds-whistle… but a boy’s…” (Jewett, 1886, p. 1204). This part shows that just the sound of a male near her is frightening. It makes the reader wonder of her past and if anything bad happened to her that involved a male figure.

Sylvia continues to keep her guard up with the young man even though he is friendly and nice to her. He seems to mean no harm and starts to walk with her back to her home. Once they make it make to Sylvia’s home the perspective of the story seems to switch from Sylvia’s to the ornithologist’s. This switch in view point the story makes the reader wonder what the true meaning of the visit could mean for Sylvia. While they are eating dinner it is as though the grandmother is trying to make Sylvia look good to the man. She talks highly of her and how useful she is.

The ornithologist see’s Sylvia’s usefulness and also seems to find her attractive, “He listened eagerly to the old woman’s quaint talk, he watched Sylvia’s pale face and shining gray eyes with ever growing enthusiasm, and insisted that this was the best supper he had eaten for a month…”(Jewett, 1886, p. 1205). As the conversation continues it becomes more obvious that he is interested in Sylvia because even though the grandmother is talking about something upsetting to her, he continues to ask about Sylvia, “The guest did not notice this hint of family sorrows in his eager interest in something else” (Jewett, 1886, p. 1206). It is slightly unclear if he is more interested in his bird collection or Sylvia in this moment; however, he seems to see the benefit of keeping Sylvia around for a large variety of things.

The switch back to Sylvia’s point of view is abrupt and shows how she is does not seem to be interested in not only the conversation but also the ornithologist. It seems as though she has a sense what the man is really interested in and she does not want anything to do with him. When he mentions that he is going after her bird the white heron she gets nervous, “Sylvia’s heart gave a wild beat; she knew that strange white bird…” (Jewett, 1886, p. 1206). When the man says that he would give a great deal of money to find that bird, Sylvia’s social environment gets tenser than before.

Sylvia must choose between her bird, the white heron and her freedom that she has living with her grandmother. Or she can choose to show the attractive ornithologist where her bird lives and get her family out of financial trouble and possibly marry the man but in turn give away her freedoms and sacrifice her bird. This is the major changing point for Sylvia and how she views the world.

As she is thinking about all of her choices she goes out to where the bird is in the woods. Trying to decide what decision she should make she climbs the tree where she sat with the bird. That is when she decides that she is not going to tell the man were her bird is and in a sense decides that she was not going to sell herself for money. Then as the man realizes the Sylvia has made her choice and even though she knows where the bird is that is not going to tell him he decides to leave.

After he leaves Sylvia seems to have regretted her decision, “suffered a sharp pang as the guest went away disappointed later in the day,  that could have served and followed him and loved him as a dog loves!” (Jewett, 1886, p. 1209). When the man finds her bird without her help and kills it anyways she questions herself even more, “Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been,-- who can tell?” (Jewett, 1886, p. 1209). It seems as though the loss of the possible money and love of a wealthy man was lost for no reason at all to her at this point. It is here that the reader sees that Sylvia will never view life as simple as she had before.

Sylvia’s social environment in this story impacted her life in a major way. Choosing her freedom and her bird had seemed like the right decision at the time. Then when she did not get to have either her bird or the ornithologist she did not know what was right anymore.

References

Jewett, S. O. (1886). A White Heron. In G. Perkins, B. Perkins, J. Phelan, & E. Renker (Eds.), The American Tradition in Literature (12th ed., pp. 1203-1209). New York: Mc Graw Hill.