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Get every literary device explanation for A White Heron
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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—As a Dog Loves:
After Sylvia decides to protect the white heron by refusing to share the location of its nest with the hunter, the hunter leaves and heads back to his home in the city. Though Sylvia knows she made the right choice, she is also sad to see the hunter go. The narrator captures Sylvia’s loss in this moment, using a simile in the process:
Dear loyalty, that suffered a sharp pang as the guest went away disappointed later in the day, that could have served and followed him and loved him as a dog loves!
The simile here—that Sylvia could have “loved [the hunter] as a dog loves”—is evocative. It effectively communicates how torn Sylvia is about her decision—she cares deeply about both the hunter and the white heron, yet her loyalty remains firmly with the heron. While she “could have” loved the hunter as deeply as a dog loves its owner, she loves the heron (itself a stand-in for nature) more, and she must therefore let the hunter go.
Sylvia’s priorities are clear here, even as she experiences heartbreak for the first time—conserving and protecting nature is more important to her than remaining loyal to the hunter and potentially receiving the hunter’s affection.
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