Environmental Statement of A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett
... Wheeler 05/07/03 Essay One: Short Literary Essay Afraid of Folks Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron” presents the environmental statement that the natural world is more important and precious than the human world. This statement is developed by Jewett through the actions, beliefs, and choices of her heroine, Sylvia. Sylvia moves from the city and becomes part of the natural world but is then tempted by a young man to betray a white heron for ten dollars and his friendship. ... Jewett expresses the importance of preserving Nature in “A White Heron” with Sylvia’s choice to remain faithful to the natural world. The first member of Nature that Sylvia encounters when she comes to her grandmother’s farm is the cat that “came to purr loudly… a deserted pussy, indeed, but fat with young robins” (Jewett 56). ... The appearance of Sylvia walking home with an old cow, her “valued companion” (55), coupled with the image created by Jewett’s explanation that “their feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not” (55) displays Sylvia’s familiarity with Nature and her security in her surroundings.