Freedom In A White Heron

In many genres and centuries, one common theme that can be represented is freedom. In Sarah Orne Jewett’s A White Heron, the author discusses many different themes such as liberty, hope and faith. In the beginning of the story, Jewett slowly begins to introduce these main themes with the cow and young Sylvia. It is seen in the second paragraph in page 169, that Sylvia is the character through which Jewett transmits and displays the theme of freedom. At the very beginning of the passage, Sylvia has just succeeded climbing the tree where the nest of the white heron could be found. She had just gone through a big obstacle that seemed larger than expected and with obstacles after every branch passed and step taken. At the end of her trek “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star” (Jewett 169), she …show more content…
In this excerpt, the author uses a simile to compare the little girl to a star. In this case, the star is described as pale, from which it can be determined that the little girl that even though she succeeded her escapade, she was tired. The star is known to be a symbol of hope, guidance, freedom and purity. These are all characteristics that the author wishes to associate with Sylvia. Thus even though Sylvia is tired from climbing the tree, she is still a star that shines in the sky. Moreover, it can be understood that since the pale star that was Sylvia was “seen from the ground” (169), that this purity and innocence portrayed is something that is out of reach to most people, but that most people wish