The Nature of Sylvia

Throughout A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett, black and white are the only colors used to describe what Sylvia sees around her. With intentional importance, the author, in brief moments, describes nature with the color green.  The name Sylvia actually means “from the forest,” and this primary character is connected with nature in a special way.  Though Sylvia is unable to feel love towards human beings; she truly cares for and only really loves nature and the creatures in it.

Sylvia is learning more about herself and she is able to discover it through her exploration of the forest. One of the creatures in Jewett’s short story, the white heron, helps in her search and comes to symbolize innocence.  Sylvia is not ready to give up her childhood and is certainly not ready to love a man.  Nature helps to protect her as seen by the hunter’s inability to find the white heron.   Besides the heron, another animal plays a big part in Sylvia’s life.  That is the cow which produces milk for its young to grow and thrive.  At the beginning, Sylvia stays close to the cow.  For her, the cow is like a mother, providing guidance to her.

At the end of the story Jewett poses the question, “were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been?” For Sylvia the answer is yes. Sylvia connects to nature like no one else can understand.   The author writes, “there was the huge tree asleep.” The personification of the tree directly correlates with Sylvia’s love of the forest. The tree is almost like a friend or family member and provides safety for her. Later the “murmur of the pine’s green branches" echoed in her ear and provided her reassurance that she should not tell the hunter the white heron’s location.  The tree acts like a companion as Jewett describes “how they watched the sea and the morning together.” The woods give her a sort of life that she never could have in a busy city.