A White Heron Group

Question:

lilcjb
lilcjb
Student
High School - 9th Grade

Compare and contrast Sylvia's views to nature in "The White Heron" and Aylmer's views of nature in "The Birthmark."

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Posted by lilcjb on Thursday June 5, 2008 at 4:35 AM and tagged with a white heron, nature, theme, views.

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  1. kwoo1213 Teacher
    College - Junior

    eNotes Editor

    There two views of nature are completely different!  Sylvia, first of all, respects and admires nature. She is at one with it and truly is a "child of nature."  She enjoys, respects, and appreciates all of it, from the beautiful scenery to the gorgeous white Heron.  On the other hand, Aylmer is a scientist who is never satisfied with it.  His "nature" is his beautiful wife, Georgia, and when he becomes obsessed with her birthmark, a unique sign of beauty, but one he finds unattractive and distracting, he cannot NOT do something to try to get rid of it and remove the mark of "imperfection," in his eyes.  He SHOULD see the birthmark as a unique sign of Georgia's individual beauty, but he cannot, and in the end, he destroys "nature" when his wife dies after his treatment to get rid of the birthmark.

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    Posted by kwoo1213 on Wednesday July 2, 2008 at 12:37 PM