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Scarlet Letter Brook Quotes

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The Righteous Brook Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a complex story, each page having a deeper meaning than shown. One of those symbols is the brook. The brook represents the boundary between truth and falsity. Only Pearl interacts with the brook, but her attitude towards it affects her mother and father. It is made clear early in the novel that Pearl is the symbol of Hester and Dimmesdale's conscience. This symbol is the key to understanding the meaning of the brook. As chapter fourteen begins, we find Pearl playing in the brook while Chillingworth tells Hester how the townspeople wish to remove her scarlet letter. Hester dismisses the notion. Hester explains, “It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge… Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature,”(Hawthorne 176). Pearl, who signifies Hester's inner voice, is playing in the brook while her mother accepts the scarlet letter. Towards the end of chapter nineteen after Hester removes her scarlet letter by throwing it by the edge of …show more content…

Once Pearl goes in the water and kisses Hester or Dimmesdale, they will realize and accept their sins. When Hester and Dimmesdale reject their sin they are simultaneously rejecting Pearl. The young girl knows this and she becomes scared and hurt when they do this. Towards the end of chapter sixteen Pearl questions why the brook is sad. This is written off as the child's imagination because a physical thing such as a brook can not feel emotions like sadness, but the brook is sensing Dimmesdale's pain. Meanwhile Dimmesdale is walking in the woods when he comes across Hester and Pearl, but he does not notice them; he can not see because there is a surrounding fog. Pearl fears that Dimmesdale is the black man despite seeing who it was, the child does not recognize him because he has not accepted his sin, therefore he has not accepted

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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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175 Words | 1 Pages

In "The Scarlet Letter," Pearl also personifies a brook by asking it "foolish and tiresome little brook…why art thou so sad?" In reality, Pearl is reflecting her own human emotions onto a non-living thing. The main character, Hester, also serves as a living personification of the scarlet letter she is branded with. Although the scarlet letter only signifies certain actions and the judgment of others, by taking ownership of the letter, Hester gives this non-living thing human qualities by making it a part of herself.

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934 Words | 4 Pages

Several days later, Hester meets Dimmesdale in the forest, where she removes the scarlet letter from her dress and identifies her husband and his desire for revenge. In this conversation, she convinces Dimmesdale to leave Boston in secret on a ship to Europe where they can start life anew. Renewed by this plan, the minister seems to gain new energy. Pearl, however, refuses to acknowledge either of them until Hester replaces her symbol of shame on her

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516 Words | 3 Pages

Dimmesdale, knowing that he is the father of Pearl, keeps it a secret for a very long time. Dimmesdale had burned an “A” on his chest. In the book he states “At last… I stand upon where, seven years since, I should have stood; here, with this woman, whose arm… sustains me, at this dreadful moment, from grovelling down upon my face! Lo, the scarlet letter which Hester wears! … it hath cast a lurid gleam of awe and horrible repugnance round about her.

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965 Words | 4 Pages

After this conclusion, Dimmesdale finds himself at the same platform where Hester was convicted of her sin at. He stands there thinking about everything that has happened to both him and Hester. When Pearl asks him if he will stand with them at noon, he is conflicted yet again thinking about the consequences of what that would lead too. He tells Pearl no, still wanting to keep his post as the town reverend.

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1423 Words | 6 Pages

As he takes his last breaths in Hester's arms, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale exclaims, “God knows; and He is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. Had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost for ever”. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale is tormented endlessly by remorse and the repression of his sin. Because of this, in his final moments, he is driven to reveal to the townspeople that he is the father of Pearl, finally relieving the guilt he burdened himself with for seven years.

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723 Words | 3 Pages

Dimmesdale is Hester’s partner in sin, and he is the father of Hester’s baby Pearl. He is the minister in their town and therefore knows the consequences of his sin very well. Due to cowardice he is unable to tell the town that he is a sinner and the pressure continues to increase to the point where he is physically ill and mentally unstable. At some point Dimmesdale’s has that “All that guilty sorrow, hidden from the world, whose great heart would have pitied and forgiven, to be revealed to him”. He feels unworthy of being on the receiving end of the Lord’s will.

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562 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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262 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols to reveal themes of the text. In Chapter 15, Pearl creates “herself a scarf” out of seaweed and incorporated the scarlet letter on to it; however, the scarlet letter was, “…freshly green, instead of scarlet!” (139). Pearl, herself, is the living version of the scarlet letter, and has always been wild, but later settles down. Similarly, the meaning behind the scarlet letter has always been “adultery,” but soon becomes a symbol of Hester and does not have a negative representation.

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577 Words | 3 Pages

Hester is always reminded of what she has done whenever she sees Pearl. While the scarlet letter is always with her, Pearl is the result of the crime Hester committed and has a bigger impact. Pearl also sometimes makes it

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922 Words | 4 Pages

“That first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware was,—shall we say it?—the scarlet letter on Hester’s bosom...the infant’s eyes had been caught by the glimmering of the gold embroidery about the letter” (99). Pearl, a sinful creation, was first aware of the mark upon Hester's bosom that caused her mother so much suffering. Hester dressed Pearl to look like the scarlet letter because that was all her mother saw. Hester mostly had constant contact with Pearl and the scarlet letter, thus Pearl and the scarlet letter became close. They became so close that when Hester took off the scarlet letter near the brook, Pearl felt as if though Hester had pushed Pearl away from her.

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817 Words | 4 Pages

Dimmesdale finally confessed to the community that he was Pearl's father and Pearl, who had grow into a gorgeous young lady under her mother's wonderful care, became married. Even though Dimmesdale had remained silent for so long, he was forgiven but died not long after. Without Pearl to provided and watch for, Hester decided to return to England but soon came back to America to be with her daughter. Even though Hester felt lonely and unwanted at times, she realized that by showing kindness and humility she had overcome her mistake and became respected and

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705 Words | 3 Pages

Pearl is a symbol of the scarlet letter. She was born due to adultery, which is the same reason as to why Hester wears the scarlet letter A. In chapter 7, Pearl is coincidentally put into a red tunic, “...arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic … and flourishes of gold-thread” (Hawthorne 92), which makes Hester realize that she is the human version of the scarlet letter. By Hester realizing this, it shows to the reader that Pearl can be a “sin” and a “blessing” all at the same time.

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509 Words | 3 Pages

In Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen, of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester recognizes her true hatred of Chillingworth just before she finds Pearl, playing at the beach, and creating a green letter A on her own chest out of seaweed. Later, Hester goes to hopefully “run into” Dimmesdale in the forest to reveal to him the truth about Chillingworth’s identity. Pearl comes along, and as they wait, she curiously asks her mother about the Black Man. When Pearl sees Dimmesdale’s figure appear in the distance, she asks whether the approaching person is in fact the Black Man himself, which Hester rejects. Pearl, however, ponders if Dimmesdale clutches his heart, as he does, because the Black Man has left his mark on him, similar to how the

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426 Words | 2 Pages

However, one must also consider the possibility that Dimmesdale is protective of Pearl not purely out of love but also because he fears retribution from Hester. After all, up until the later events of the novel only Hester has knowledge of who Pearl’s father is. Moreover, after his death, it is Chillingworth, not Dimmesdale, who leaves behind a large inheritance for Pearl, securing a good social standing in her

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