Sarah Orne Jewett, A White Heron

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A young girl’s silent, self-sacrificing defence of nature is at the heart of the much anthologized American short story, “A White Heron”. The story, hailed as a “tiny classic” when it first appeared in 1886 (Silverthorne, 125), resembles a fable with its seemingly simple elements of an innocent girl, a charming young man, a rustic setting remote from worldly concerns, and a beautiful, threatened bird.

“A White Heron” was the title piece in a book of short stories by American writer Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1901), published by Houghton Mifflin. Like Jewett’s earlier story collection Deephaven and her highly praised later collection The Country of the Pointed Firs, “A White Heron” is set in the author’s home state of Maine, considered a rural backwater in an era of

1557 words

Citation: Paton, Priscilla. "A White Heron". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6901, accessed 19 March 2024.]

6901 A White Heron 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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