Human–Nature Conflict and Environmental Ethics in Sarah Orne Jewett’s ‘A White Heron’: An Ecocritical Study”

Abstract

Ecocriticism is described as the analysis of the interaction between literature and the physical environment, which offers a critical approach to nature in bringing literary texts into perception, shaping and questioning how human beings understand the nature and moral calls to duty. The study uses the ecocritical theory in conjunction with ecofeminism, deep ecology, and posthumanism theory to analyze Sarah Orne Jewett’s A White Heron in terms of the ethical and ecological implications set within the text. The method used for this research is qualitative method as textual analysis. The study explores the role of interaction of the protagonist Sylvia with the forest and the unusual white heron in the development of moral consciousness, agency of ethics, and relational responsibility towards nonhuman life through a qualitative text based analysis. This study addresses three main goals: first, to see the ways the story presents human-nature relations and promotes an ecological awareness; second, to understand the ethical potential of the moral decisions made by Sylvia and her devotion to the nonhuman life; and third, to explore how the ecological ethics and ethical self-reflection are reflected through literary devices, including imagery, symbolism, narrative view, and tone. The results show that the  by Jewett does not only emphasize the inherent worthiness of the natural world but also incorporates ecofeminist and posthumanism aspects of relating ethical accountability with relational connection, opposition of anthropocentrism, and acknowledging of non-human agency. The paper illustrates that literature may serve as a moral and pedagogical domain, developing ecological consciousness and cultural attitudes toward nature, and the long-term usefulness of the story by Jewett in ecocritical studies, environmental ethics, and ecological literacy learning.