A White Heron | The Necessary Extravagance of Sarah Orne Jewett: Voices of Authority in ‘A White Heron’
In the following excerpt, the author offers his interpretation of the favorable impact varying narrative voices have on the conclusion of Jewett’s ‘‘A White Heron.’’
‘‘A White Heron’’ seems a simple story of simple people, in a simple time. Seems. But if we look more closely, we see that Jewett has used diverse and unusual devices to give this much anthologized story the satisfying impact which puts us so at rest at its conclusion. In the next to last scene, for example, she uses authorial voice and privilege in genuinely extravagant ways: a tree’s thoughts are reported and given weight, and the author not only urgently whispers counsel to the main character but later exhorts the very landscape and seasons of the year in pantheistic...
[The entire page is 1370 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
Tell a friend about A White Heron at eNotes.
