A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett

I recently finished reading “The White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett. I found it to be a rather light read, that both embodied the romantic ideas of the author and didn't force them upon the reader. Which left it up to the reader to ultimately decide what they thought of the young girl's final decision. 

It began on a June evening, with nine year old Sylvia's venture to the woods to collect the dilatory cow belonging to her Grandmother, Mrs. Tilley. Sylvia has spent the previous two and a half hours searching for the cow, Mistress Moolly, who often wandered off and stood so still that her cow bell would not ring and her location would remain undisclosed. Sylvia's childlike patience was wearing off, and she was hurrying home with the cow when she heard a loud whistle. This whistle was the somewhat intimidating introduction of the traveling ornithologist to young Slyvia. He wanted to a place to spend the night so he could continue his gunning in the Morning. When he approached the house and made his request, Mrs. Tilley was more then happy to accquiese his plea.

His interest in Slyvia was based solely in her knowledge of the birds in the woods, and was remarkably indifferent to the family sorrows that her Grandmother alluded to. His ultimate goal, was finding the White Heron. He clearly stated that he would give ten dollars to whomever could show it to him. During the following few days Slyvia's initial reaction to the man, which was one of hesistant alarm, changed to one of love and admiration--albiet with some hesitation when the bird's bloody corpses fell from the sky solely for the sake of his research collection. She knew that he wanted the White Heron, and was rather grieved at the elusiveness of the bird. She wildly imagined all that she could do with the ten dollars and also the feeling of triumph and delight that would come when she finally found the White Heron.

It was this anticipation that coursed through her entire body, that drove her up the familar tree in the pre-dawn moonlight, where she found the White Heron's nest. Her experience of connection to the tree as she climbed and ultimately the wonder of the White Heron in the approaching daylight overwhelmed her. Somehow this short period of time high up in the tree endowed a renewed spirit of wonder at the natural beauty of the world in young Slyvia and the secret of the White Heron's nest lamented in her heart. She wondered what the reaction of the stranger would say to her when she told him exactly how to reach the nest. When she made her way down and out of the tree and eventually back to her home, her grandmother and the stranger were awaiting her. She was torn as she did desire the approval of the stranger, yet at the same time she couldn't sacrifice the life of the heron by giving up her secret. So she kept her secret for the sake of her forest friend.

From my interpretation of the story and my own personal view of nature (and love of animals!), I believe that Sylvia made the “right” choice in the circumstance. I put right in quotes, because I truly believe that depending on one's own view of the story there perhaps isn't a “right” or a “wrong” choice to be made in that situation. However, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, I agree with it. Given the current state of affairs in our world, I think a great many people disagree with me (in our class discussion this was proved correct). It would be unfair to say that the opposing side doesn't have some valid arguments about the decision for example: her grandmother needed the money, it was just one bird, and the scientific community would likely be able to study this bird and perhaps learn more to save the lives of other birds. My own view is that perhaps the money would have been useful in their life and there may have been some scientific advancements as a result, but at the end of the day the bird would be dead.

I guess this brings me to the essential point of my argument, which is actually more of a question. At what point does the need for money and desire for research justify or even warrant the sacrifice of the wonder and beauty found in the natural beauty of life? Perhaps it is just the naturalistic nature of my personality, but I believe that as a society we have gotten so obessed with our money and our scientific research that we forget to see the world through the eyes of a child. We've outgrown our wonder of natural beauty and our suffering from the affliction of dispair as a result. So as idealistic as it sounds, I agree with the lonely country child's choice to keep the secret of the White Heron and I think that if more people embraced life in that way we would have a better world.