The Secrets of Nature

Mary Kate Ryser-Oatman

Journal #9

Sarah Orne Jewett, "A White Heron"

February 5, 2009

"The murmur of the pine's green branches is in her ears, she remembers how the white heron came flying through the golden air and how they watched the sea and the morning together, and Sylvia cannot speak; she cannot tell the heron's secret and give it's life away" (Jewett 528).

Sylvia has just found where the white heron's nest is, but she can not bring herself to tell the hunter about its whereabouts. She must keep it a secret from him to protect the white heron.

When she found the white heron, I thought Sylvia would surely tell the hunter where to find it. He offered to pay her grandmother and Sylvia a lot of money that would really help them. Throughout the story, it was apparent that Sylvia was a very nature-loving girl, always observing and soaking up her environment. The hunter was not a mean, demanding man at all; in fact, Sylvia has developed a school girl crush on him. With that in mind as well as their interest in different birds, I thought she would tell him not just for the money, but because she had this infatuation towards him. Instead, she decides to not tell him about the white heron, even though it was obvious she had been in a tree looking for it.

Sylvia clearly loved nature more than the hunter, but also the idea that he could potentially become a good friend and give them enough money to help ease their lives. Her respect for nature is so strong, and I think that is really admirable. There are plenty of people who enjoy nature and like being outside, but I think Sylvia's connection is deeper than that. She has only been living with her grandmother for a year on a completely different side of the country. She does not have any real friends she can play with; the closest thing being her grandmother's cow. I think that because she did not have people her own age she could play with, she really bonded with Mistress Moolly (the cow), and she treated her like she was a human being. This new appreciation for animals contributed to her inability to tell the hunter where the white heron was located.

If I had been in her situation, I think I would have ultimately told the hunter where the white heron was. I think that as much as she loved nature, the idea of money helping her grandmother and improving their lives is necessary. Her grandmother is getting older, and might not be able to support her and Sylvia soon. Sylvia is young, and she never really knows when her grandmother might become ill or pass away. Even though she is only nine years old, I would have been thinking about my grandmother's life and my future, as well as a potential new friend in the hunter.

According to Wikipedia, Sarah Orne Jewett had a similar bonding with nature in the way that Sylvia did, "As treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that developed in early childhood, Jewett was sent on frequent walks and through them also developed a love of nature." Like Sylvia walking Mistress Moolly home every night, Jewett was sent on walks, but for a different reason. Still, I think Sylvia represents Jewett as a child, and shows how she came to love nature, and the strong bond she had with it.