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Analysis Of A White Heron

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White Heron: Historical Summary and Analysis During a time of hardships and cultural changes Sarah Orne Jewett managed to capture innocence and the effects of society in A White Heron. The emergence of American realism caused a spurring change in the 19th century for those living in urban areas as well as the rural areas. The development of industrialization allowed for more factory jobs to open doors to science, technology and advancement for women. Jewwett wanted to inform the readers about the influence of industrialization from two different aspects of life, which evokes the voice of materialism and feminity. In Jewett’s short story A White Heron the ‘town’ is a symbol of advancement and materialism. The story was published at a time where many changes had occurred in the cities. The industrialization movement which began in the late 18th century and expanded in the 19th century caused for the United States to have an expansion of resources which caused for migration. Eventually “between 1860 and 1900, fourteen million …show more content…

The stranger is fascinated by birds and stuffs them so he can display them, where Sylvia prefers to watch them alive in their natural habitat. Nature symbolizes peace and harmony. Until the hunter had arrived Sylvia had enjoyed the living conditions with her grandmother. Living with her grandmother in the countryside helped Sylvia find her balance which she was in the hunt for when she used to in the town “Everybody said that it was a good change for a little maid who had tried to grow for eight years in a crowded manufacturing town, but, as for Sylvia herself, it seemed as if she never had been alive at all before she came to live at the farm. … Sylvia whispered that this was a beautiful place to live in, and that she never should wish to go home” (Baym, 1886). Sylvia’s peace is disturbed when the hunter induces stress and conflict in her

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