A White Heron by Sarah Orne and After the Flood by Scott Russell Sanders

Comparison of Two Articles: A White Heron by Sarah Orne and After the Flood by Scott Russell Sanders

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Comparison of Two Articles: A White Heron by Sarah Orne and After the Flood by Scott Russell Sanders
Sanders’ After the Flood and Jewett’s A White Heron are two fascinating short stories with different themes. In this paper, these two different texts are synthesized comprehensively. These two texts are compared and contrasted through the analytical framework of theme. This composition argues that the two texts have very different themes. In After the Flood by S. R. Sanders primarily focuses on the theme of nostalgia, whereas in A White Heron, S. O. Jewett gives emphasis to the theme of outsiders and self-discovery.
After the Flood by S. R. Sanders
This short story is the author’s first essay on Staying Put. Scott Russell Sanders starts by introducing himself as well as the first place that he called home to the readers. The author then proceeds to tell his memories and stating how painful it was for him to let that place go under. In essence, the author narrates the story of his homeland during his childhood years. Brought up in the County of Mahoning, Scott Russell Sanders describes his love and appreciation for nature, the scenery of the farmland, as well as how it was all washed away one day. Because of industrialization in the region, the land which the author was so at home with was lost beneath an artificial reservoir, thus forever wiping away most of his childhood memories. This moving story may affect many readers emotionally thanks to the great literary skill utilized by the author. The way he has depicted the incidents in After the Flood makes it easy for the reader to place himself/herself in the author’s shoes.
The theme of nostalgia is evident throughout the narrative. It is an overarching theme that Scott Russell Sanders is clearly attempting to reveal to the readers. The author poignantly recalls his childhood in a region which was later flooded when a certain tributary of the Ohio River was dammed (Sanders, 1991). Sanders also talks about the history of the Ohio River itself, which for a long time served as a waterway for entrepreneurs, explorers and Native Americans, over and above being a passage for more tonnage than both the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal. However, underlying this affirmation of place is Scott Russell Sanders’ even more ancient and sublime search for human’s place in the scheme of things (Sanders, 1991).
The author discusses his past as a child. He reflects on old memories that he had in the place and the way he feels now after seeing what it has become. Sanders begins by discussing his first home that he lived in as a child, and how he used to live close to a river that has now been flooded, an incident that caused the entire town to become submerged. This compelled him and his family to vacate the town and find a new place to call home. When Sanders returned to the same hometown that he used to live in as a child and went to his old home, he found out that his farm has been turned by the government into a dam. After he saw this, he became really disappointed and saddened that th...