Anthropocentrism In 'Animals And The White Heron'

Bennet and Royle's chapter entitled "Animals" discusses the prevalence of anthropocentrism in literature. Anthropocentrism is the idea that humans act as if they are the center of the earth and playing the role of god. Jewett's short story "A White Heron" illustrates anthropocentric thinking through the hunter's desire to kill the white heron In "The White Heron" the hunter acts as god of the land, hunting birds without regard to their well-being or other factors. In the story, the hunter is searching for the white heron a bird that had "never been found in (that) district)" (90) and was very rare. The desire for the hunter to kill the bird, even when he knows it might be the only one of its kind around suggests the selfish nature of the