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Symbolism of the scarlet letter
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Nathaniel hawthorne the scarlet letter essay
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This interaction between infant Pearl and Dimmesdale is significant because Pearl is described as a child who only shows affection towards her family (Hester). As Pearl ages, many Puritans conspire to separate her from her mother. Upon hearing this, Hester visits the governor’s hall to try and persuade him to allow Pearl to remain with her. Hester is ultimately allowed to keep Pearl, not because of her words, but because of the words spoken by Dimmesdale, who convinces Governor Bellingham and Reverend John Wilson. Afterwards, Pearl “stole softly towards him, and, taking his hand in the grasp of both her own, laid her cheek against it” (79).
In chapter X we see Hester and Pearl walking into the graveyard, interrupting Chillingworth and Dimmesdale’s conversation. Pearl goes ahead and “skip[s] irreverently from one grave to another; until coming to the broad, flat, armorial tombstone of a departed worthy--perhaps of Isaac Johnson himself--she began to dance upon it. In reply to her mother's command and entreaty that she would behave more decorously, little Pearl paused to gather the prickly burrs from a tall burdock which grew beside the tomb. Taking a handful of these, she arranged them along the lines of the scarlet letter that decorated the maternal bosom, to which the burrs, as their nature was, tenaciously adhered. Hester did not pluck them off” (Hawthorne).
Rossi1 Matthew Rossi Asha Appel English 4 11/15/14 Growing up Through the Actions of Others In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Pearl changes when different characters thoughts and believes are portrayed through voice or objects. This leads her to be very malleable to and be ever evolving. The townspeople, Hester, and Dimmesdale now play a key role in shaping Pearl from a product of sin into a god like child.
To Live Beyond the Battles of her Sinful Conception Throughout Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale’s lives together depicted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, they are all uniquely victim to the strict moral bindings present in the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s society. Hester and Dimmesdale, through an unlikely union, commit a sin which would prove to upend their lives in ways previously unimaginable. As a result of this gross breach of morals, an illegitimate child is born. Pearl is the physical manifestation of this particular action committed by her parents, however, the further actions and beliefs of her parents undoubtedly contribute to Pearl’s growing up to become a woman in the world.
Hawthorne states, “... Hester could not help questioning at such moments whether Pearl was a human child. She seemed rather an airy sprite…” (Hawthorne 52). Even though some people see Pearl as a child of the devil, she is actually just a little kid whose mother’s actions reflected badly on her life and made people’s views of her distorted.
Pearl is the living embodiment of of the scarlet letter. Pearl constantly reminds Hester of her sins, without meaning to. Whenever she asks questions about Dimmesdale or about the scarlet letter, Hester is reminded of the things she did wrong. Pearl is very smart child, and she likes to ask questions and learn about things. If she sees something that confuses her, she will ask her mother about it.
So both the scarlet letter and Pearl caused trouble in her
When Pearl looks at her mother’s reflection in a convex mirror, she claims to exclusively see the A: “the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it” (95). Hawthorne clearly illustrates how Pearl and the public choose to see Hester merely as her sin. Even numerous years later, Hawthorne suggest that the townspeople still cannot view Hester
The reader more evidently notices that Hawthorne carefully, and sometimes not subtly at all, places Pearl above the rest. She wears colorful clothes, which can be seen as a symbol of the scarlet letter, is extremely smart, pretty, and nice. He also shows her intelligence and free thought. One of Pearl's favorite activities is playing with flowers and trees. " And she was gentler here [the forest] than in the grassy- margined streets of the settlement, or in her mother's cottage.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter takes place in a Puritan town in the 1600’s. In his book Hester Prynne, who is the protagonist, commits adultery and out of it came a baby and a scarlet letter which she has to wear for the rest of her life. The person she committed adultery with was Reverend Dimmesdale, yet only Hester, Pearl (Her child), Roger Chillingworth
A three month old baby and her estranged mother become the symbol for reverends and clergymen to point at and exploit as a lesson for those who think about committing a violation against the church and law. In the novel the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl and Hester Prynne live their dreary life in Boston, Massachusetts, portrayed as the embodiment of sin and wrongdoing because Pearl was not conceived under wedlock and her mother committed adultery on her thought-to-be-dead husband. For seven prolonged years, the two live in a world of shame and despair brought on by the constant ridicule of the town. The town, all the while, has no knowledge that the father of the sin made child is the influential Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.
The Symbolic Pearl Symbolism is a technique used by all writers, and The Scarlet Letter is no exception. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is full of symbolism. Actually Hawthorne is one of the most prolific symbolist in American literature. Characters, events, relationships, feelings, and even weather are part of or are symbolism. Pearl is a complicated symbol of an act of love and passion.
Hawthorne's description of Pearl’s character embodies both the innocent side of a little girl as well as an out of control “witch child” to the extent that both sides are shown to battle for control. The clash of these opposing personas stems from the conflict between natural innocence and a challenging environment. The clash inside Pearl of the innocent little girl and the “witch child” that was brought into a challenging environment is shown through Pearl’s actions, where both personas seem to be battling for control. While she is isolated in her cabin with her mother, Hawthorne describes Pearl playing by herself where “Her one baby-voice served a multitude of imaginary personages, old and young, to talk withal… ...
In The Scarlet Letter is merely a symbol in the story, her function is to remind Hester of her sin which affects her role in the story to become more antagonistic to Hester. Pearl is a character, yes, but in the novel, she is mostly a symbol. The way Hawthorne writes her, she is not like a regular person, and she 's not
As Pearl is a symbol for Dimmesdale and Hester, this claim of her being “naughty” indicates a comparison to the indecent and inappropriate sin that both Dimmesdale and Hester acted upon. Pearl is insulted and judged as being a “naughty elf” and not being a “Christian child” and coincidently as the offspring of Hester, it is clear that their Puritan society believes Hester’s immoral past has rubbed off on Pearl causing her to be a “naughty” child. Hawthorne, however, is proving indirectly through the symbolism of Pearl that she is behaving in such a way to illustrate the manner in which Hester, in this case, is handling her
