Explaining Motifs
I choose to write my motif explanation on A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett. In this short story, birds are a recurring motif; I will try to explain the significance of the birds and the white heron as it pertains to the story. The first birds mentioned are robins. Robins are symbolic of rebirth or the beginning of new ideas; the story mentions them as a being the product of a cats labor, “fat with young robins.” My intuition tells me that their meaning in the story is Sylvia’s new life in the country. Geese are the next birds mentioned in the story. Geese are symbolic of a happy-go-lucky attitude towards life. In the story the grandmother exhibits this attitude. The grandmother gladly accepted the handsome young man into her home as can be quoted, “I’ll milk right off, and you make yourself at home.” Hens crop up as the next birds mentioned. Hens are symbolic of fertility and being a mother figure to someone. The young hunter in this story looked upon Sylvia with unclean thoughts, perhaps finding her as a potential mate. The quote from the story that justifies this theory is “He watched Sylvia’s pale face and shinning gray eyes with ever growing enthusiasm.” Partridges are mentioned next in the story and symbolize morning or extreme sadness. The grandmother in the story had lost her children and was mournful as can be seen in this passage, “The hostess gossiped frankly, adding presently that she had buried four children.” Blue Jays were mentioned next and symbolize adaptability and development of an innate talent. I think this can be seen in the passage, “There ain’t a foot o’ ground she don’t know her way over.” This tells the reader that Sylvia adapted to country life and has come to master the territory. Crows are mentioned next symbolize mysticism and the “other world.” The mysticism of crows can be seen in the passage, “Dan, my boy, was a great hand to go gunning.” The grandmother is holding onto the idea that Dan is waiting for her in another world.