Proceedings of The National Conference
On Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2012
Weber State University, Ogden Utah
March 29 – 31, 2012
A Betrayal of Self: Sylvia’s Journey in “A White Heron”
Cheryl Lauersdorf Dabney
English Department
Lee College
200 Lee Drive
Baytown, Texas 77520 USA
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gordon Lee
Abstract
In “A White Heron,” author Sarah Orne Jewett shows how damaging the effect can be for a culture or community
when using the tenets of the beginning chapters of Genesis as the belief system for its sociological structure. Jewett
asks the reader to look at how the man’s relationship with nature differs from the woman’s, to question and consider
the possibility that our traditional interpretation of Genesis is culturally biased and designed to fit only the man’s
best interests and desires, and to also see that through this interpretation of Genesis, the man is allowed to treat a
woman with no more regard or reverence than that which he gives nature. By leaving the city and going with her
grandmother to live on the farm, young Sylvia discovers the beauty of nature, her unique, loving connection with
God’s creatures, and her strength as a female. However, when the stranger from the city comes to their farm, Sylvia
and her grandmother are thrust in the midst of the traditional interpretation of Genesis. Jewett has us witness the
transformation of Sylvia when this man of Genesis enters her life. Seeing how a soul that was once loving and
nurturing to all of nature could become one that would be content to watch while one of creation is murdered, and
complacent to know that the failed creature would then be gutted, stuffed and treated as a trophy with its spark of
life removed, should stand as a reminder to the reader that any of us are capable of the same betrayal of self that
Sylvia experienced, if we, too, are not ever so watchful and protective of our soul and our truest self. As a society,
we need to be reverent of nature and consider its value in the divine plan of nature’s balance. All of creation is
given a purpose and the spark of life that each is given by God should be acknowledged and revered. Through
Sylvia’s encounter with the guest, Jewett shows that if women’s and nature’s purpose for existence is viewed
through the western cultural understanding of the traditional interpretation of Genesis, then they are at risk of being
used and abused, devalued and discarded, treated with a lack of dignity and reverence, stripped of their sense of self
and true purpose, and used as trophies on a shelf.
Keywords: Jewett, Genesis, Female-Empowerment
1. Introduction
In “A White Heron,” author Sarah Orne Jewett shows how damaging the effect can be for a culture or community
when erroneously using the tenets of the beginning chapters of Genesis as the belief system for its sociological
structure. Jewett asks the reader to look at how the man’s relationship with nature differs from the woman’s, to
question and consider the possibility that our traditional interpretation of Genesis is culturally biased and designed to
fit only the man’s best interests and desires, and to also see that through this interpretation of Genesis, the man is
allowed to treat a woman with no more regard or reverence than that which he gives nature. Through Sylvia’s
encounter with the guest, Jewett shows if women’s and nature’s purpose for existence is viewed through the western
cultural understanding of the traditional interpretation of Genesis, then they are at risk of being used and abused,
devalued and discarded, treated with a lack of dignity and reverence, stripped of their sense of self and true purpose,
and used as trophies on a shelf.
2. Literary Research
On the farm, Sylvia discovers the beauty of nature, her unique, loving connection with God’s creatures, and her
strength as a female. Sylvia’s first eight years of life were spent in the city, an atmosphere created by man where
manufacturing buildings stand where trees once grew, and the sounds of “the noisy town” replace the songs of birds,
all devoid of nature except for a “geranium that [once] belonged to a town neighbor” that, like Sylvia, “tried to
grow” but could not thrive in the polluted, concrete environment of man’s creation (Jewett 52). Living on the farm,
Sylvia feels as if she is a part of all the nature that surrounds her, and, to her, “it seemed as if she never had been
alive at all before she came to live at the farm” (52). In her blissful new environment where the man of Genesis’
tenets had not yet ravaged the land, Sylvia “thought often with wistful compassion of [that] wretched geranium”
(52). Sylvia also did not feel at ease in the city because she was “afraid of folks” (52). In the woods, Sylvia
experiences this fear again when she hears a whistle she knows is “not a bird’s whistle, which would have a sort of
friendliness, but a boy’s whistle, determined, and somewhat aggressive” (53). She could not see who was whistling,
but the instinctive fear that overcomes her knows the whistler is a male. This reactionary assumption shows it is
specifically the male folk she is afraid of. One of Sylvia’s discomforting memories of her life in the city is of
always being chased and frightened by a red-faced boy; the young male causes Sylvia to feel inferior, and she is
helpless to stand up to his bullying behavior. When there is a belief in the Genesis tenet with “its stereotypical
interpretation as a manifesto for women’s subordination” then the overpowering and bullying of the female becomes
an acceptable and expected behavior for the male (Rooke 161). According to author Deborah Rooke, this belief
“accords so much with the patriarchal worldview that has been both shaped and supported by Christianity over the
centuries, that the [patriarchal] world-view and the Genesis narrative are viewed as reinforcing each other” (161).
On the farm and no longer in the presence of the patriarchal system that allowed the male to bully her, Sylvia finds
joy in the game she once feared and playfully chases after her cow, her beloved and valued companion. By leaving
the city created by the Genesis-based patriarchy and going to the farm to live with her grandmother, she is able to
find herself and to discover where she knows her soul is best nourished.
The females in “A White Heron” do not live their lives structured around the traditional patriarchal based tenets of
Genesis. Louis A. Renza states, “The cultural world Sylvia inhabits is a de facto matriarchy” (78). Jewett has
Sylvia surrounded by capable women since she does not show any hint of dependency on a man for either the
mother or grandmother. Renza makes note of this, as well, pointing out that “. . . not only are the two adult women
spared direct relations with patriarchal families. . . [but] they actively head these households as if men [are]
unnecessary” (78). Sylvia’s mother, living in the city, worked and managed the household sufficiently enough for
there to be no thought given to Sylvia that they should have a man around to help take care of them. The young
child of nine years is the only help the grandmother needs to manage the farm on her own. When the grandmother
offers the male guest a bed of husks or feathers to sleep on for the night, she is quick to point out to him that she
“raises them [the corn and geese] all herself,” removing any doubt for the stranger as to whether or not the old
woman and young girl live alone (Jewett 54). “It [is] a surprise [for him] to find so clean and comfortable a
dwelling in the New England wilderness,” and it is apparent to him that they manage the farm quite well on their
own (54). His reaction is due to his belief in the patriarchal interpretation of Genesis. According to Rooke, the
Western world’s Christian-based culture believes the first three chapters of Genesis is “a narrative which is widely
understood to show women as being intrinsically inferior to men, weak, . . . and therefore both by right and by
necessity under male authority” (161). He is surprised at the condition of the farm because his beliefs do not allow
him to expect the females capable without a male.
Like Sylvia and her grandmother, some cultures have the belief system that men, women, and nature are equal in
the Creator’s plan with all being dependent upon each other for survival. These cultures believe that everything
formed by the Creator should be given reverence and shown dignity with every action, whether it be through
growing and cultivating the seeds of the earth or through the slaughter of an animal for the survival’s sake of
another. Sylvia thrives in such a belief structure, being as one with nature. On the farm, all life is treated with
reverence, the spirit of love flows free, and all with nature is in divine balance and peaceful harmony. In true
balance, nature sustains life for each other, and the death of one creation is never for another’s entertainment or to
enrich one’s ego. The cow gives milk to sustain life for Sylvia and her grandmother, and in return for this, the cow
is protected, fed and cared for. On the farm, a bird’s life is only taken for the sustenance of another creation, the
farm’s cat, whose belly is “. . . fat with young robins. . .” (Jewett 52); however, for the man from the city, the birds
are killed and used as trophies for his shelf.
The tenets of a society’s belief system of creationism, in regards to how man, woman and nature were originally
created, affect how each are treated and valued by the other, and can unfairly allow one part of creation to have
authority over another. In The Bible, God forms Adam from his image “of the dust of the ground, and breathe[s]
into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2.7); however, Eve is formed only from “the rib” of Adam (Gen. 2.22). The
traditional western culture interprets this part of Genesis to mean that the first male and female were created
differently; therefore, they are not equal to each other. This interpretation causes that society to believe the male has
hierarchy and authority over the female. In concurrence, Jerome Gellman states, “Adam is the normative sexual
being to whom Eve is subordinate. This, in turn, has helped shape gender attitudes for the Western religious
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tradition” (320). When the stranger from the city comes to their farm, Sylvia and her grandmother are placed in the
midst of this interpretation of Genesis. The stranger travels to the country to collect birds, a hobby accepted in his
culture because of the belief in man’s hierarchy over nature. He exhibits his ownership of nature by first stalking
and killing his prey, replacing the creature’s heart with a man-made packing, and then placing the stuffed, lifeless
bird on the shelf next to his other conquests. Sylvia’s woods are home to the rare white heron he desires to add to
his collection. At the end of an unsuccessful day, this male comes to Sylvia’s and her grandmother’s home in search
of food and a night’s lodging with full expectation this will be given to him. His patriarchal belief requires the
female to serve the male and abide his desires and needs.
In some western cultures, Genesis’ story of Adam and his wife, Eve, is the guide for the way man understands his
role toward women and for how he believes he is allowed to treat them. Jewett, through Sylvia, challenges the role
of Eve, shedding light on the many ways this belief structure is not just and equal to all of creation and by showing
the man’s self-centered actions are left unnoticed and, therefore, allowed to continue. Once at the home of Sylvia
and her grandmother, the stranger asks for food and a night’s stay, and, even though he knows they are poor, he tells
the grandmother “[she] can give [him] some milk at any rate, that’s plain [to see],” leaving her unable to say no to
him (Jewett 54). In his mind, it is the teachings of Genesis that tell him his expectation should be met, therefore
what he wants and needs is what he must get. He takes their food without offering any compensation to help
replenish that which he has taken. His self-centered thinking does not allow him to consider that feeding him might
be taking the food from Sylvia and her grandmother meant for the next day. The arrogant and egocentric attitude of
the man not considering the effect his wanting has on others around him also comes from the teachings of “the Old
Testament’s patriarchal world-view. . . that puts men on top at the expense of the women who help to put them
there” (Rooke 161). There is an absence of politeness and reverence shown to the females who run the farm and to
the animals that live there; they exist to take care of his needs.
When there is a lack of reverence shown for one of God’s creations by the one creature given the higher authority,
the damaging effects are sometimes irreversible. Genesis clearly states that God commands the man that he should
“have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon
the earth” (Gen. 1.28). This belief structure allows the male to live life from a self-centered perspective, to view
nature and women as gifts presented to him from the God of Genesis to do with as he so desires, as solely belonging
to him with no consideration of their perspective, and with their value being determined by him, whose desires and
conquests have no limits or barriers that bind him. The moment we see Sylvia consider the value of the ten dollars
over the life of the heron, we see the immediate change in her connection with nature. As the guest talks of the
money and bird, she sits on the floor, watching a toad, but because her mind fills with thoughts of the money, she is
uncharacteristically unaware that she is blocking the toad who “wishe[s] to get to its hole under the doorstep”
(Jewett 55). Any other night, her mind would not be clouded with thoughts of the money, and she would have been
aware of the needs of the little creature.
If man holds dominion over woman and nature, then he has the power to decide the value of each, giving either a
value so high that it is practically unattainable or so low that there is not any value given to it at all. Sylvia does not
see nature as something to possess, but when the stranger offers to pay her if she can help him find the white heron,
she learns her services and the bird are worth ten dollars, combined. Since the stranger knows Sylvia has love and
respect for nature, then his monetary offer is to buy her value system from her allowing her to reveal the bird’s
hidden nest, so he can then kill the heron. Her ability to track nature and her knowledge of the land is truly not what
the stranger is offering to pay her for. If his acquisition of the heron was for a just cause in the eyes of a natureloving soul, such as Sylvia, then there would not be a need for the offer of payment for one’s help in finding the
bird. The stranger did not offer to pay for the lodging and food, yet he offers to pay for Sylvia’s help in finding his
desired object, the white heron. He knows his reason for acquiring the heron is not one Sylvia would agree with, so
he must give her reason to help him. The hunter hopes the value of the ten dollars is worth more to Sylvia than the
value she places on the life of the white heron. Since the acquiring of the bird is not for survival’s-sake of another,
might a nature-loving individual consider the creature priceless? The value and love of nature have a completely
different meaning for the country girl and the city male.
The man sees the birds as “things” he can collect, but Sylvia sees the animals as equal to her, and in turn, her
grandmother claims that “the wild creature’s counts her one o’themselves” (Jewett 54). They feel Sylvia is safe to
be near and will eat right out of her hand. The birds are not valuable to the man when they are full of life but rather
when they have been shot, stuffed and preserved. Sylvia loves and values the birds so much that she will give them
her food while she goes without (54). The values the man and Sylvia place on the birds are in such contrast with
each other, and “she [can] not understand why he kill[s] the very birds he seem[s] to like so much” (56). Even when
the bird of the strangers’ prey is rare, there is no mention of concern by him for the fear of the creature becoming
extinct. The man, deeply set in his self-centeredness, continues to have them added to his collection of possessions.
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The man of Genesis has “dominion . . . over the fowl of the air” (Gen. 1.28), and, so, he does what he wants, not
needing to explain his reason nor even needing to have a reason for his actions.
Through the actions of the stranger, Jewett shows how the western culture’s interpretation of Genesis teaches its
society to believe that women and all of creation belong to the male, that they are given to him by God for his wants
and needs, and since they are God’s gift to him, then they are there for him to do with as he so chooses. The Bible
states, “and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man”
(Gen. 2.22). By taking part of Adam’s flesh, his rib, to create the woman, it further gives credence for Adam to say
to Eve that she belongs to him. Eve has Adam’s rib, so she is simply an extension of him, but not equal to him since
it is just one bone; but, the one bone is enough for him to claim ownership of her. The stranger comes from a
society structured from this interpretation of Genesis, so he believes that he is as Adam, proclaiming women and all
of God’s creations belong to him for his desires. Renza states, “Thus, both heron and heroine [Sylvia] exist as mere
objects within the hunter’s field of perception” (79). It is from Genesis that he is able to claim his perception as
acceptable and irreproachable.
In “A White Heron,” the stranger views the women in the story as means to an end, to be used to help him get to
that which he is after. He first uses Sylvia to lead him to where there is food and shelter. The grandmother obliges
the stranger, treating him with kindness and respect, but this treatment is not mutually exchanged by the man. When
she begins to tell the sad tale of her son who had long went away from her, it is apparent the stranger is not listening
since “[he] did not notice this hint of family sorrows in his eager interest in something else” (Jewett 54-55). It is
only for an exchange of getting his needed food and shelter that he appears to be fully engaged in the grandmother’s
rambling talks and not because he has any care, concern or reverence for her or her family.
Once the male stranger enters the home, the commandment that has Eve condemned to be the underling to Adam
and to do his bidding has now been placed upon Sylvia. The guest’s next desire is to obtain the rare white heron.
He attempts to woo Sylvia by pleading, “I can’t think of anything I should like so much as to find that heron’s
nest….I would give ten dollars to anybody who could show it to me” (Jewett 55). Since he presumes Sylvia can
help him find the nest, that the girl will obey the grandmother, and that they are money poor, then he knows his offer
will be accepted, and he will get what he wants. His presumption also comes from “the Western world’s Christianbased culture, [where] . . . the narrative of Adam and Eve. . . is widely understood to show women as being
intrinsically . . . susceptible to temptation” (Rooke 161).
In Genesis, God commands to Eve, “and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (3.16).
So, the man, the husband, is given complete control and authority over his wife, and Sylvia is being the perfect Eve
to this Adam, losing all sense of her true nature-loving self in the process. The next morning, the spellbound Sylvia
accompanies the man on his hunt. His ability of charming and befriending the female gender does not get lost on
Sylvia for “the woman’s heart, asleep in the child, [is] vaguely thrilled by a dream of love” (Jewett 56). As they
search the woods, Sylvia decides the stranger has “proved to be most kind and sympathetic,” yet he has done
nothing to warrant the praiseful description she is lavishing him with (56). Her clear judgment of him has
unquestionably become clouded. As the man leads Sylvia, in his Genesis-driven way, Jewett compounds the point
she is making, that Sylvia is stripped of her true self, by adding that Sylvia follows along “a few steps behind, with
her gray eyes dark with excitement” (56). Earlier in the story, before her Adam has placed the Genesis bridal veil on
her, Jewett describes Sylvia with “shining gray eyes” (54). It is as if she were under a spell and unable to be her true
self, someone that would never go on a quest to kill one of nature’s creatures for the sheer joy of seeing it lifeless
and displayed on a shelf.
Sylvia’s feelings of love for this stranger are new and equally strange for her. Her lack of knowledge and
experience of such feelings, just like the monetary offer made to her, cause her to betray her true self and act against
her structure of beliefs. While hunting with the man that morning, we witness Sylvia becoming a different girl in
the woods, completely different from how she had ever been before. She had never gone hunting before, and never
had she carried a weapon, but this day her Adam has given her a jack-knife, and she holds it in the highest regard,
“as great a treasure. . .” could ever be (Jewett 56). Another change in Sylvia is when she allows the guest to place
her behind him instead of beside him while traversing the land she knows of better than him. Sylvia clearly knows
the land best, even her grandmother tells the guest that “[t]here ain’t a foot o’ground she don’t know her way over,”
yet it is the man, her Adam of Genesis, that takes the lead, “she only follow[s]” (56). No, not with the tenets of
Genesis is she to take the position of leader. These new rules for Sylvia are not ones that she has conformed to prior
to this day.
With the bridal veil firmly in place over Sylvia’s eyes, the greatest breach to the sweet, nature-nurturing soul that
once inhabited the heart of this Eve takes hold as she watches him with his gun “when he [brings] down some
unsuspecting singing creature from its bough,” and even though “she [can] not understand why he killed the very
birds he seemed to like so much….Sylvia still [watches] the young man with loving admiration” (Jewett 56). We
can suspect that without the spell she is under, she would not have attended the hunter on his quest. Sylvia considers
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nature as one considers family and friends. She refers to the cow as Mistress Moolly, and considers her to be a
playmate and “a valued companion” (51). Her grandmother states, “. . . the wild creature’s counts her one
o’themselves. Squer’ls she’ll tame to come an’ feed right out o’ her hands, and all sorts o’birds” (54). We can
suspect our former Sylvia would have screamed out in horror at the sight of a fallen bird, the creature singing her
song never more, wings wet from blood to never fly again; and, if our true Sylvia was to come face to face with the
murderer of her beautiful friend, we can presume she would not have followed him with love in her heart and eyes
filled with excitement. On the contrary, her heart would have bled for her friend, and her tears would have surely
flowed, washing the blood from the stained feathers that would never again feel the wind beneath them. No, the true
Sylvia is not present on this day.
Jewett has the great pine be Sylvia’s Tree of Knowledge that puts her on her journey of rediscovering her true self
and her reverence for nature. The old pine tree that stands at the edge of the woods, having been the only tree
allowed left standing after the Genesis’ man’s ravaging the land of all the trees many years ago, is the one way
Sylvia knows she can find the answer to the white heron’s hidden nest, and this news will surely bring great joy to
her Adam. She can climb it the next morning and be able to see the secret location of the hidden nest of the white
heron. Since Sylvia expects the results of her plan will be “[a] fancied triumph and delight and glory . . . when she
[makes] known the secret,” then it is clear to the reader Sylvia is on a quest for no other reason than to please the
man (57). By taking the temptation the man presented to her, she left her world, whose tenets are based on
reverence given to all life, and allowed herself to be placed in the man’s world of Genesis.
As Sylvia ascends the tree, climbing higher and higher, her former senses return to her with seeing all of the
creatures, with the smells of nature returning to her nostrils, and with it all, the true heart of the nature-loving Sylvia
begins to return. She knows the tree will hold and protect her as she risks her life to bring the man of Genesis his
desire. As she gets closer to the top, Sylvia wonders, “Who knows how steadily the least twigs held themselves to
advantage this light, weak creature on her way!” (Jewett 58). When the great old pine safely delivers Sylvia to the
top, she sees the ocean for the first time, and as she witnesses the flight of the two hawks, “Sylvia feels as if she too
could go flying away among the clouds” (58). Sylvia has returned to her true self and, once again, is one with
nature.
Sylvia’s voice of courage to refuse the man’s offer to buy her comes in the form of silence. Though, the
grandmother continues to harshly rebuke her for not answering and telling the hunter about the bird, Sylvia knows
“she must keep silence” (Jewett 59). She knows she cannot forsake the white heron for “[t]he murmur of the pine’s
green branches is in her ears, she remembers how the white heron came flying through the golden air and how they
watched the sea and the morning together” (59). Sylvia watches the man leave and knows she could so easily have
been as an Eve of Genesis, “that could have served and followed him and loved him as a dog loves” its master, but
Sylvia knows in her heart that the birds are much more her friends than the stranger from the city ever could be (59).
The reader of “A White Heron” is witness to the birth of a hero. In his review of “A White Heron,” Kelley Griffith,
Jr. describes Sylvia as a hero and states, “Sylvia is anyone who unselfishly quests for knowledge, receives a
stunning revelation, and resists any cheapening of it. The hero, someone has said, does what normal people are not
brave enough or strong enough to do” (27). It is because of the courage of Sylvia to refuse the demands of her
grandmother and the desires of the hunter that the white heron’s life is spared. Through her journey climbing the
great pine, Sylvia’s very own Tree of Knowledge, she sees the ocean for the first time. This sight, sparkling from
the sun as a golden treasure, is one she so often dreamed of one day seeing. Sylvia declares to herself, “truly it [is] a
vast and awesome world” (Jewett 58). Perched high atop her Tree of Knowledge, Sylvia is able to see a whole new
world, with villages appearing white and clean, safe from the stain of the city pollution and church steeples. She has
not only learned of her strength and courage through conquering the dangerous journey up the tree, but she learns of
her strength to conquer the temptations of man, dispelling the Western culture’s erroneous teaching that the female
is weak, inferior to the male, and easily tempted. Sylvia reclaims her soul’s voice and her reverence for nature and
its beauty, remembering that the world of God’s creations offers its own treasures far beyond any that man can offer.
3. Conclusion
Jewett has us witness the transformation of Sylvia when a man of Genesis enters her life. Seeing how a soul that
was once loving and nurturing to all of nature could become one that would be content to watch while one of
creation is murdered, and complacent to know the failed creature would then be gutted, stuffed and treated as a
trophy with its spark of life removed, should stand as a reminder to the reader that any of us are capable of the same
betrayal of self that Sylvia experienced, if we, too, are not ever so watchful and protective of our soul and our truest
self. Jewett through her rebuke for Genesis has us consider how our lives, family, culture, society, or world should
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be framed. If all of God’s creatures were made by his image/imagination, then all creatures should be treated with
the same reverence given to the creator. If people view life from a self-centered perspective, neither giving proper
reverence to nor acknowledging the true value and purpose for women and nature, then it will be to the savage
treatment of land and creature, and for women, it will be their complete loss of power. As a society, we need to be
reverent of nature and consider its value in the divine plan of nature’s balance. All of creation is given a purpose
and the spark of life that each is given by God should be acknowledged and revered. If a woman is to be a
contributing factor to the world, then she must not be controlled by any man nor live her life with only his desires
and needs being met. She must be a woman in full, with all of the female attributes of body and soul controlled only
by her and doing only that which her heart holds credence to.
4. Acknowledgements
First, I give grateful recognition to Dr. Lee for his creation, the Human Condition class, which combines a unique
classroom atmosphere with an ingenious approach to literary examination that stimulates and encourages profound
questioning and personal exploration, producing a deeper understanding of humanity and personal growth within
each student. I give my deepest and most heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Lee and co-professor, Georgeann Ward, for
their knowledge, guidance, encouragement, endless patience, and selfless dedication to the teaching profession. Last
but foremost, I want to thank Professor John Britt for the blood, sweat, and love he pours into the Honors
Department, giving his time and energy to push students to achieve their greatest potential.
5. Bibliography
1. The Bible. Print. King James Vers.
2. Gellman, Jerome. "Gender and Sexuality in the Garden Of Eden." Theology & Sexuality: The Journal of the
Institute for the Study of Christianity & Sexuality 12.3 (2006): 319-335. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 July.
2012.
3. Griffith, Jr., Kelley. “Sylvia as Hero in Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron”.” Colby Library Quarterly 21.1
(1985): 22-27. Web. 3 Jan. 2011.
4. Jewett, Sarah Orne. “A White Heron.” The Human Condition, English Composition & Introduction to
Humanities. Ed. Joseph Trimmer. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2007. 51-60. Print.
5. Renza, Louis A. “A White Heron” and the Question of Minor Literature. Wisconsin: The University of
Wisconsin Press, 1984. Print.
6. Rooke, Deborah W. "Feminist Criticism of the Old Testament: Why Bother?." Feminist Theology: The Journal
of the Britain & Ireland School of Feminist Theology 15.2 (2007): 160-174. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25
July. 2012.
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