Question

What is Sylvia's internal conflict as the story progresses, and why do you think she makes the choice that she does? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Answer 1

Answer :

In "A  White Heron", Sarah Orne Jewett highlights the conflict of Man (humans) vs Nature through the character of nine year old Sylvia. On one hand, Sylvia wants to please the ornithologist who is looking for the white heron to add to his collection of preserved specimens and on the other hand Sylvia has a love for nature and does not want to harm the bird.

The first evidence of this can be found in the lines ' "So Sylvia knows all about birds. Maybe she can help me then," the young man said. "I saw a white heron not far from here two days ago. I've been looking for it ever since. It's a very rare bird, the little white heron. Have you seen it, too?" he asked Sylvia.' When the stranger asks Sylvia if she had seen the white heron Sylvia hides the fact that she had seen the strange white bird on the other side of the forest.

The lines ' The young man was staring at Sylvia. "I would give $10 to the person who showed me where the white heron is." ' Sylvia is lured by the ten dollars the stranger agrees to give her. She thinks all night about the number of things her grandmother can buy from the money. She starts considering the young man as kind and sympathetic.

She is so infatuated with the young man and eager for the money that she climbs up the huge pine tree to find out the location of the bird's nest. But she is completely awed by the beauty of the white heron and its mate. She starts back for home while thinking about the ornithologist's reaction when she tells him about the great bird.

But once she reaches her grandmother's house she has a change of mind and despite her grandmother's admonitions and the stranger's "kind eyes" appealing to her, she refuses to part with the information. She does not want to tell them about the white heron's whereabouts and give its life away. She remains silent, much to the frustration of the stranger.