Journal entry# 33 Sarah Orne Jewett

Siu Faat Jimmy Wong
English 48b
February 29, 2008
Professor Lankford

Quote:

Sylvia would have liked him vastly better without his gun; she could not understand why he killed the very birds he seemed to like so much… Sylvia still watched the young man with loving admiration…the woman’s heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely thrilled by a dream of love.

Summary:

It is a quote found in “a white heron” of Sarah Orne Jewett. It explains her love to the strange young man.

Response:

During the lecture, someone pointed out that the love between the girl and the stranger may be similar to the one between a brother and a sister. However, I don’t really agree with this point after I found out this quote. I think that the 9- year- old girl really started to like the young man whom she just met because she was so lonely to live on the farm in the woods of New England. She wanted to hang out with some other people, but not always with her female cow. On one hand, she felt so afraid of the young man’s gun. On the other hand, she thought that the man was so charming and delightful. Although she was scared, she was still willing to follow the man to find the bird. I think that the girl really felt interested in the man while the man only felt interested in the white heron.

In order to please the man and receive the money from him, she “began with utmost bravery to mount to the top of a very huge tree” to find the white heron by herself. I think that the major reason for her to find the place of the white heron was not because of the money, but because she wanted to satisfy the young man and to have a feeling of self- worth. Moreover, although the 9-year-old girl did not like the collection method of the young hunter, she still put herself in such a dangerous situation to find the bird. There was a very big risk for her to get injured or even die. However, she did not consider carefully before she climbed all the way up to the top of the tree. I think that there was really a great “loving admiration” in Sylvia’s heart. Otherwise, she wouldn’t do such a dangerous thing to a stranger. Frankly, while I was reading this part, I thought that she would really tell the secret to the young hunter afterwards. Luckily, she made the right decision to keep the secret since I think that the young man would still leave her even if he got the bird in his collection. Now, at least she had protected the freedom of the beautiful white heron in the woods.