“A White Heron” is a short story that, in some ways, belongs to the category of Realism and, in other ways, could be categorized as Romanticism. While the inclusion of the effects of industrialization on 19th century New England society makes this story a Realist one, the ways in which Jewett captures the majesty of nature render it Romantic. Jewett intentionally veers away from capturing the messy or challenging aspects of living a more primitive life in the countryside and instead paints a picture of the ease and beauty of pastoral life, while contrasting it with the viciousness of urbanity. This comes across in passages like the following, in which Jewett contrasts Sylvia’s current experience living in the country and previous experience living in the city:
It seemed as if she never had been alive at all before she came to live at the farm. She thought often with wistful compassion of a wretched geranium that belonged to a town neighbor.
Here, the countryside represents life and vitality (Sylvia is “alive” for the first time) and the city represents disconnection from nature and lack of vibrancy (as seen in her city neighbor's “wretched geranium”).
The short story also belongs to a genre known as Regionalism, a post-Civil War genre of literature that celebrates the unique cultures, geographies, and dialects of specific regions of the United States. While authors like Mark Twain were capturing the particular cultures in the rural South, Jewett focuses on the ways of life of rural New Englanders.
Finally, “A White Heron” could also be categorized as a coming-of-age story. When nine-year-old Sylvia meets the hunter, the narrator describes how “the woman’s heart” inside Sylvia is “vaguely thrilled by a dream of love.” This description indicates that Sylvia is starting to mature by having a “woman’s” feelings of desire. Sylvia then has a spiritual experience at the top of the old pine tree—during which she sees the whole natural world stretching out before her and understands deeply the beauty of nature—and realizes that she has to protect the heron (and nature generally), betraying her promise to help the hunter find the bird so he can kill and stuff it. By the end of the story, Sylvia has moved from an innocent child who enjoys nature in a simple way to a more mature young person who is willing to protect nature even in the face of conflicting desires.
