The short story “A White Heron” written by Jewett introduces how gender roles are defied significantly by each individual character in the story. The author portrays the human/animal relationships and its correlation with gender through characterization as well as dialogue. Sylvia conveys to her feminine gender effectively because she demonstrates maternal characteristics and has a nurturing personality. She is also vulnerable. This vulnerability is demonstrated at the beginning when she encounters the scientist. At the time, Sylvia was in distress. “Sylvia left the cow to whatever sad fate…