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Themes of The White Heron

            Sometimes we often forget who we are as a person and what matters to us the most. We let human desires take over our minds and bodies and do as everybody wants or wishes. We will do anything and make sacrifices to please a loved one or even a stranger. No matter how free we think, we are we all wish to be freer and escape from this brutal reality that lies here on earth. We all want to fly high and arise over the difficulties that exist here on this planet. We all wish to accomplish a greater understanding of our soul and Sylvia has by exhibiting her passion for nature over human companionships, all with the help of a rare special bird named the white heron. .
             The title of the story, "The White Heron," is not just an ordinary bird but a "queer tall white bird with soft feathers and long thin legs. And it would have a nest perhaps in the top of a high tree, made of sticks, something like a hawk's nest" (54). The young man tries taking advantage of Sylvia's innocence so he can capture his white heron and have it "stuffed and preserved" along with his other "dozens and dozens" prized birds (54). It is his obligation to complete his collection of fine birds and even offers ten dollars to whoever shows or leads him to the white heron. However, Sylvia has a passionate love for nature and questions it by becoming infatuated with this young man. She then makes it a quest to find this rare bird by climbing up the tall pine tree where she can "see all the world, and easily discover whence the white heron flew" (56). As she's climbing down the great pine tree she keeps fantasizing "what he would think when she told him how to find his way straight to the heron's nest" (58). Until she is face to face with this stranger after discovering where the great bird's nest is she unexpectedly becomes quiet: "she cannot tell the heron's secret and give its life away" (58).


Essays Related to Themes of The White Heron

1. The White Heron

The White Heron symbolises Sylvia's, the central character in the story's, loneliness and her freedom or the need to escape amongst other themes. ... The White Heron symbolises Sylvia's loneliness by being a "solemn" creature itself. ... The story's central character, Sylvia associates herself with the story's main symbol the white heron through this context. ... The heron symbolises this theme as it is a bird, which can fly. ... The symbolisation of the white heron helps the reader exceedingly, in analysing the main character, which is very vital in understanding w...

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2. How The Crucible is a tragedy & John Proctor a tragic hero

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3. A White Heron

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  • Word Count: 1090
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4. A white heron

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5. The Quest for Identity

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6. Tess

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