The Hunter Character Analysis in A White Heron

The hunter (whose name is never revealed) is an ornithologist from town who comes to the countryside with the aim of shooting and stuffing a rare white heron for his collection of birds. He stumbles upon Sylvia in the woods and stays a couple of nights in her grandmother Mrs. Tilley’s house. He is a materialistic person who seeks to turn wildlife into trophies and expects country homes to contain “horrors” of “primitive housekeeping” because of their lack of material comforts. The hunter presents Sylvia with the central moral conflict of the story: whether or not to help him find the heron. He believes he can tempt Sylvia into helping him with a monetary reward. This, plus his charming personality, friendly nature, and great knowledge of birds initially convince Sylvia to help him, despite the fact that she is horrified by his violent shooting of the birds she loves. When Sylvia sees the world from the heron’s perspective and decides not to reveal the location of its nest, however, the hunter leaves, presumably to continue his hunt for rare birds. The hunter represents the industrialization that threatens to conquer and destroy nature in order to satisfy human greed, and Sylvia must reject him in order to truly value her natural environment. Yet the hunter also represents the human companionship and connection one longs for, with the narrator wondering whether or not the wild birds Sylvia saved can replace the friendship she could have had with him.

The Hunter Quotes in A White Heron

The A White Heron quotes below are all either spoken by The Hunter or refer to The Hunter. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

It was a surprise to find so clean and comfortable a little dwelling in this New England wilderness.

Related Characters: The Hunter

Page Number and Citation: 3

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote, stated when the hunter accepts Mrs. Tilley’s hospitality and enters her farmhouse, highlights the hunter’s materialism. Because “a little dwelling” in the “wilderness’ would not possess the material comforts of a wealthy home in an industrial town, he expects it to be dirty and uncomfortable. Jewett subverts this expectation by showing the value and pleasantness of simple life out in the country. The fact that Jewett specifically celebrates a homestead within the “New England wilderness” shows her preference for the literary style of Regionalism, celebrating the quaint and wholesome lives of the countryfolk of her native region. The Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates.

“I am making a collection of birds myself…there are two or three very rare ones I have been hunting for these five years. I mean to get them on my own ground if they can be found.”

Related Characters: The Hunter (speaker)

Related Symbols: White Heron

Page Number and Citation: 4

Explanation and Analysis:

The hunter explains to Mrs. Tilley and Sylvia what brought him to the wilderness surrounding their home: his pursuit of trophies to add to his bird collection. Here Jewett suggests that the hunter interacts with nature by conquering it in order to expand his own possessions. This greed stands in contrast to the value of conserving nature that Sylvia will have to choose in order to save the heron later in the story. The language of the quote criticizes the hunter’s greedy attitude towards nature, as he states that he means “to get them [the rare birds] on my own Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita

Sylvia still watched the toad, not divining, as she might have done at some calmer time, that the creature wished to get to its hole under the doorstep…No amount of thought, that night, could decide how many wished-for treasures the ten dollars, so lightly spoken of, would buy.

Related Characters: Sylvia, The Hunter

Page Number and Citation: 5

Explanation and Analysis:

Sylvia’s identification with her natural environment is interrupted as the hunter offers her a monetary reward for helping him find the heron. Whereas before, she would have tried to put herself in the toad’s perspective, now she is too distracted by the money. This shows how greed can hinder one’s identification with nature and how the material rewards of industrialism, represented by the hunter’s quest to shoot the heron, can separate one from their natural environment. This introduces the central conflict which will challenge and transform Sylvia’s character, as the plot forces her to choose between the elements of nature Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque e

All day long he did not once make her troubled or afraid except when he brought down some unsuspecting singing creature from its bough…she could not understand why he killed the very birds he seemed to like so much.

Related Characters: Sylvia, The Hunter

Page Number and Citation: 5

Explanation and Analysis:

Sylvia’s affection for the hunter grows as she searches for the heron with him, but all the while she is troubled by his shooting of birds. This shows two conflicting attitudes of interacting with nature: Sylvia’s, which appreciates nature as it exists independently in the wild, and the hunter’s, which conquers nature and turns wildlife into objects. Jewett’s language privileges the former attitude, criticizing the hunter for bringing down “some unsuspecting singing creature from its bough.” At this point in the story, Sylvia does not question aloud or stop the hunter’s greed, but later she will have to choose whether Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur m

Has she been nine years growing, and now, when the great world for the first time puts out a hand to her, must she thrust it aside for a bird’s sake?

Related Characters: Sylvia, The Hunter

Related Symbols: White Heron

Page Number and Citation: 9

Explanation and Analysis:

Sylvia returns from her experience viewing the heron and discovers that she cannot tell the hunter the location of the bird, even though she admires him and wants the reward he offers. “The great world” refers to the elements of society and industrialization that the hunter represents. The benefits of industrialization, including wealth and connections to humanity, almost tempt Sylvia into revealing the heron’s location. But for reasons not yet completely apparent to Sylvia, she finds greater value in the life of the heron and her connection to the bird. Here, Jewett shows that connecting to nature will lead one Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores su

Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been, – who can tell?

Related Characters: Sylvia, The Hunter

Page Number and Citation: 9

Explanation and Analysis:

After the hunter leaves, Sylvia longs for his companionship and wonders if she made the right choice in choosing the heron over him. Jewett realistically depicts the loneliness that can result from a solitary life in nature, showing that, as connected as one may feel to nature, one still may long for human relationships. While the moral choice is to value conserving nature over industrialism and human inference, that choice may still result in the loss of human relationships. Jewett also shows how one’s life experiences can result in the loss of one’s once innocent, peaceful existence and leave one Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet

The Hunter Character Timeline in A White Heron

The timeline below shows where the character The Hunter appears in A White Heron. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...boy’s whistle and she abandons Mistress Moolly in order to hide in the bushes, but the stranger has seen her. He asks her how far away the road is and she meekly... (full context)

As she resumes driving Mistress Moolly home, Sylvia tries not to look at the stranger , who carries a gun. He walks with her, explaining that he had been hunting... (full context)

...is even more worried, believing Mrs. Tilley will be mad at her for happening upon the hunter . Mrs. Tilley, however, is waiting in the doorway when they all arrive, and she... (full context)

The hunter repeats his predicament and asks if he may stay the night. Mrs. Tilley says that... (full context)

The hunter enjoys Mrs. Tilley’s “quaint talk” and he notices Sylvia listening with enthusiasm. After dinner, the... (full context)

The hunter does not notice the note of “family sorrow” in Mrs. Tilley’s conversation because he is... (full context)

Sylvia is preoccupied watching a toad on the footpath, but when the hunter describes the white heron, she recalls with excitement that she knows the bird and had... (full context)

The hunter wants nothing more than to find the white heron’s nest and he promises that, if... (full context)

The next day, the hunter explores the woods and Sylvia tags along. She begins to warm up to him because... (full context)

...comes to an end, Sylvia feels the stirring of more mature feelings of love for the hunter . She follows him with admiration and fascination as they silently track bird calls. She... (full context)

...satisfied, she climbs down, which is just as difficult as climbing up. She wonders how the hunter will react when she reveals to him the secret of the white heron’s location. (full context)

Back at home, Mrs. Tilley finds Sylvia’s bed empty and begins calling for her granddaughter. The hunter wakes and looks forward to another day of searching for the bird, believing that Sylvia... (full context)

Sylvia returns home, pale and with her clothes torn and ruined by pine pitch. The hunter and Mrs. Tilley question her and the moment has finally arrived for her to reveal... (full context)

But Sylvia cannot speak, even as a worried Mrs. Tilley scolds her for disappearing and the hunter tries to persuade Sylvia with charming looks and promises of riches, pointing out that she... (full context)

...sunrise together. She knows she can’t reveal the white heron’s location if it means that the hunter will end the heron’s life. (full context)

The hunter leaves disappointed later that day, and for a long time afterwards, Sylvia still thinks of... (full context)

After a while, Sylvia’s horror at the hunter shooting birds fades, forgetting how he left “their songs hushed and their pretty feathers stained... (full context)

The Hunter Character Analysis

The Hunter Quotes in A White Heron

Part I Quotes

Part II Quotes

The Hunter Character Timeline in A White Heron