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How Is Hester Prynne Selfish

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In the book “The Scarlet Letter” we find out that Hester committed adultery and ended up having a child who is Pearl. Hester Prynne is the main character and she is beautiful, her beauty barely compares to her strength of character. Even when she is punished for her crime of adultery and publicly humiliated by being forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her chest, Hester does not break. She remains exactly who she is strong, kind, proud, but also humble. With all of this going on people were trying to take Pearl from her. With this argument, you can argue with both sides. Which is to let Hester keep Pearl or to let Pearl be taking away from Hester. You could argue that because Hester committed a sin that she is a bad mom or that Pearl just …show more content…

She says that she should be able to keep Pearl because God gave Pearl to Hester, and because Hester can teach. She wants Pearl learn from the mistakes that Hester made, regarding sin and adultery. She can let Pearl grown up and show her that she doesn’t want to be in her shoes when she gets older. Nobody can raise Pearl like Hester can be Hester is Pearl’s mother. Both Hester’s logical and emotional arguments are equally as effective, because it makes sense that Hester should keep the child because God gave her to Hester. It also makes sense that Hester should keep the child because Hester’s past experiences can help grow and mold Pearl, and Hester can teach Pearl to make the mistakes she did. Hester also uses emotional diction order to help persuade Bellingham. Hester says that Pearl is her happiness along with her torture and that Hester will die before Pearl is taken from her. This shows Hester’s passion and love for her daughter Pearl, and how she will do whatever it takes to have custody of Pearl. Hester’s argument does not convince her to reveal that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father, because Hester doesn’t want to rat Dimmesdale out and Dimmesdale isn’t courageous enough to admit it. This helps elaborate on how strong and independent Hester is, and how cowardly, in a way, Dimmesdale

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Much to the surprise of the townspeople, Pearl has become a comfort and vindication for Hester. Pearl has found fascination in the letter making it less of a penalty for Hester. She hasn’t been able to be understood by the townspeople because she is seen as a creature of heaven and therefore not understood by those who have impure motives. But Hester also sees Pearl as a burden of her past because without the pregnancy of Pearl her affair would never have been discovered and she would’ve remained as a part of the town instead of an outcast. She gave Hester a lot of grief because she had such an uncontrollable attitude, she was strong willed and crated many annoyances for her

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1091 Words | 5 Pages

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).

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Although, to Hester, Pearl’s “Peculiarity...should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owed her being” (85). Again, Hester thinks that if Pearl is abnormal it is due to her sin, and that she must deal with Pearl, to rid herself of her guilt. Not long after Hester is released from prison,

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Dimmesdale speaks up for the family and says how God sent Pearl to the world and to Hester. He says that Pearl is both a blessings but she is also a curse. This persuades the other men and they say Hester is allowed to keep Pearl. Pearl

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481 Words | 2 Pages

Hester is a bad mother, but she should be able to keep Pearl. Hester should be able to keep Pearl because Pearl is the only thing Hester has in life, Pearl is a blessing and a retribution, and Pearl saved Hester. Therefore, Pearl should not be taken away from her mother. Pearl is the only thing Hester has in life. “‘She is my happiness!­­she is my torture, none the less!

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Dear diary, this past year has been the worst year of my life on our small farm in Iowa. My wife Jane had a miscarriage when she only had 4 months left with our soon to be 4th child then she got really sick and then that made my 3 year old daughter Roberta sick too and she died as well. So i 've been thinking that moving away from everything that 's happened, is the best choice for me and my two sons jeffrey and andrew. We will stop at independence missouri first, then through kansas, nebraska, wyoming, idaho, and then we will reach our new life in oregon.

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Pearl’s estranged behavior is believed to be a result of the way she was conceived through sin, which is just another example of how Pearl is the physical representation and constant reminder of Hester’s sin. Towards the end of the book, Pearl is finally allowed to be a real human being once Dimmesdale confesses his sin. In Chapter 23, Hawthorne writes, “The great scene of grief, in which the wild infant bore a part had developed all her sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her father’s cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy…” (Hawthorne 142).

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941 Words | 4 Pages

Her defiance becomes stronger and will carry her through different hardships. Her determination and lonely stand repeats again when she confronts Governor Bellingham over the issue of Pearl’s guardianship. When Bellingham wants to take Pearl away from Hester, Hester reply’s with, “God gave me the child! I will die first!”(Ch.). When also pressured even more for the child’s care, Hester pleads, “God gave her into my keeping.

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824 Words | 4 Pages

To answer that gun control question you will also find some very fundamental points into the pros and cons of gun control laws. Australians would love Americans to have fewer guns and stricter gun control laws. Americans fight for their right to own a gun and claim the Australian government has removed Australian's right to defend themselves. How did these similar countries come to have such vastly different views towards gun ownership? Answer this question and you resolve many of the issues that surround the gun control debate.

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Hester never took her anger or frustration out on Pearl, and that took great patience from Hester. Pearl was the one who brought curiosity and happiness into Hester’s life. Undeniably, Hester truly loved Pearl, there was no doubt about that. Hester did not want Pearl to make the same mistake when she got older and Hester just wanted the absolute best for Pearl. Pearl was a strange child and Hester thought that was because of the sin she committed, but in all honesty, Pearl just looked at things in different perspective.

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514 Words | 3 Pages

So Hester should keep Pearl, not matter what the townspeople think. The townspeople can discriminate Hester, but they shouldn't take Pearl away from Hester. Hester has committed a horrendous sin in their eyes, and that does not mean that she does not deserve to have Pearl. Pearl will remind Hester of her sin every day of Hester's

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628 Words | 3 Pages

Although she is not devoted to her children, Hester braces up from Pearl. Her presence is soothing for her. Pearl is helping Hester to confront her sin. This is why when Governor Bellingham wants Pearl to be taken away from her mother for she is not getting a proper religious education, Hester is very much distressed. The ultimate decision maker is Dimmesdale, and his conscious will not let him allow

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1200 Words | 5 Pages

Hester Prynne: A Symbol of Sin In Robert Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is a struggling single mother who committed adultery. Hester Prynne’s husband sent her over to the Puritan colony and was supposed to come over very soon. When he was on his way, Hester’s husband was captured by Indians and kept as a slave. Hester had her daughter, Pearl, out of wedlock.

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445 Words | 2 Pages

Hester has proven to the judge that she’s not suited to be a mother. Pearl should be taken away from Hester. Hester has put herself and the baby through so much, the baby shouldn’t suffer along with the mother. “Do well discharge our consciences by trusting an immortal soul, such as there is in yonder child, to the guidance of one who hath stumbled and fallen amid the pitfalls of this world. Speak thou, the child’s own mother,” (Hawthorne

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893 Words | 4 Pages

Right from the start, Hester knew that Pearl was going to be different from the other kids because she was born a sin. Pearl acted differently from the normal kids, which may be because she wasn’t around other kids to see how they acted and learn from them. “The truth seems to be, however, that the mother- forest, and these wild things which it nourished, all recognized a kindred wildness in the human child” (Hawthorne 140). Pearl was connected more with the forest than she was with people. She spent more time in the forest, playing with flowers and moss, and she didn’t play with other kids because they didn’t want to be around her.

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