Journal 22: Jewett

Quote:
“…Mrs. Tilley gave amazed attention to all this, but 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 door-step, and was much hindered by the unusual spectators at that hour of the evening” (Jewett 525)

Summary:

From the story “The White Heron”, this happens when the stranger is describing the white heron and he is proposing to give ten dollar to whoever tells him where it is. Sylvia doesn’t want to look like she knows about the bird and, then suddenly she starts staring at the toad who was trying to escape from the sight of the spectators.

Response:

I found this passage quite interesting, because I can compare the toad to Sylvia and also to nature. Jewett describes the toad as this little weak animal who, startled by these three people talking, it wants to escape and hide from them. But Sylvia who is very connected to nature, doesn’t notice this, instead she just stares at the little toad with no further analysis of the situation. in few words, the toad is trying to get to its refuge under the door-step but since the stranger and Mrs. Tilley are sitting there, he can not pass through.

The toad is like Sylvia, both have been trapped in a situation where the stranger is involve, and in both cases, the stranger is causing a difficulty, for both the toad and Sylvia. Sylvia is paralyzed because of the stranger persistent desire of finding the white Heron, which she knows about; but she can’t say anything, because saying something at that time would mean she had to be involved with this stranger, who as the same words says, was a stranger to her and to the world around her. Even if afterwards, she is going to be fascinated by this stranger and she’s going to struggle with herself, right now, he is just an obstacle and unusual spectator in her life, just like it is to the toad.

Now, this toad has been startled because he cannot go back to his refuge, and the stranger is the obstacle, however, Sylvia doesn’t realize, she cannot connect to the situation the toad is going through because she herself has to deal with not letting the stranger know she knows about the bird. Both animal and girl are in a struggle and this is shown by Jewett, she is making this subtle comparison that contains such a huge reality about the emotions going through Sylvia at that moment.