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Use of symbols in the scarlet letter
Symbolism of the scarlet letter
Use of symbols in the scarlet letter
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Use of symbols in the scarlet letter
Symbolism of the scarlet letter
Use of symbols in the scarlet letter
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Use of symbols in the scarlet letter
David Brooks is a political journalist and regular contributor to the New York Times newspaper. He also teaches at Yale University. The New York Times article, “Lord of Misrule,” by David Brooks draws comparisons between Donald Trump and the carnival culture of the Middle Ages. Brooks uses numerous literary devices such as analogy, allusion, and invective language to show readers how history is repeating itself. He evokes strong emotions in readers through the literary devices he uses.
Throughout the passage from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Hester’s baby, Pearl, to illuminate the theme of beauty in a dark place. Once released from prison, Hester, an adulterer, becomes a public spectacle. Through this hard time, Hester has her daughter Pearl to soothe her and to bring her strength and hope for a better future. By using vivid imagery and juxtaposition, Hawthorne depicts Pearl as Hester’s happiness, light, and beauty during a sad and lonely time. While in Prison, Hester is all alone and depressed.
This was the first part in the book when Dimmesdale went on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl. When all three of them were on the scaffold Pearl was described as “Pearl she a symbol, and the connecting link between the two”(139). When they were on the scaffold pearl connected Hester and Dimmesdale. As soon as Pearl held hands with both of them she felt as if she was no longer a product of sin because of Hester and Dimemsdasles actions. When the townspeople saw this they thought that Pearl was a magical human that brought together two people in a tough time.
Pearl keeps me here in life.’” Pearl is the only thing that keeps Hester happy since otherwise she is all alone. Without Pearl, Hester would have no reason to live. Pearl is a blessing and a retribution. “‘It was meant for a blessing; for the one blessing of her life!
She is the result of the sin that was committed by Hester and Dimmesdale. Throughout the story Pearl asks difficult questions to her mother. She also has a slight obsession with her mothers embroidered A on her clothes. Pearl acts as a constant reminder that she can never escape her sin as someone who has committed adultery. However, Hester loves her daughter so much.
“I have no Heavenly Father!” (Ch 6, 85). It is as if Pearl not only knows that her father had sinned, yet this makes it seem like she is not even human. If she says that she does not have a Heavenly Father then who exactly is her father? She could possibly have figured out who her actual father was, however considering that the Reverend had sinned, Pearl meant that she was the offspring of not a father from Heaven but a father from Hell.
Pearl, in this scene, is symbolizing Hester Prynne’s sin being redeemed. Only once Dimmesdale tells everyone that he is the father, Pearl can become a real person and feel human emotions because Hester has no need anymore to be reminded of her
In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is a very important character and she symbolizes a lot. Pearl is also very smart. She figures out before many of the adults in the town, that Dimmesdale is her father. Pearl also has a big imagination. She when she plays alone, she can turn anything as simple as a stick or a rock into something aminated, and something she play with.
She cannot be defined by just one label, but both. She is a mother to Pearl, who is a child born from adultery. She is a caregiver, seamstress, a lover, and a counselor, but the Puritanical society Hester lives in constantly reminds her that she is just a whore. By subscribing to this label, Hester loses her identity in a way. The effect of being an outsider due to the letter causes her to become a shell of her former self.
Even though Hester Prynne was at first dark, she redeemed herself and still helped in the community after the townspeople shunned her and Pearl. Hester is a Puritan woman who is the main character. She had an affair and became pregnant, having Pearl. She refuses to name her fellow sinner, so she is punished by the townspeople endlessly alone. “Ye shall not take her!
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
This child is not meant to be a realistic character but rather a symbol of Hester’s sin, blessing and scarlet letter. Pearl is the scarlet letter, a blessing and curse, and the love and passion of a dangerous relationship. More than a child Pearl is a symbol of the love and passion between Hester and the minister. Pearl is a symbol that connect her parents forever even if they couldn’t be together. The narrator says, “God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonoured bosom, to connect her parent forever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven!”(86)
She is both a main character and a major symbol. One of could even argue that Pearl is the main character, and not Hester, due to how important she is to plot. Pearl is the biggest symbol in the novel, being that she truly is the
The scarlet letter has different meanings throughout the story and to each of the characters. The original meaning of the scarlet “A” is “Adultery”, but later in the story the townspeople and other characters begin to interpret it in different ways, each of them with their own idea and belief. Hester starts being more active in society and that makes the townspeople think differently about the scarlet “A”. The scarlet letter doesn´t keep the same meaning throughout the whole story, it changes with Hester´s actions and the Puritans beliefs. Hester starts being more active in society, she starts helping the poor and nursing the sick.
Some of the differences between these two characters are also what makes them alike, as well as setting them apart from the rest of the characters in the book. Hester and Dimmesdale’s need to repent and face their punishments in their own ways leads the reader through the book with surprises at every turn. The characters face challenges from holding in a secret, and facing a punishment all relating to the same actions taken before the book begins. Hester, the mother of Pearl ,as well as the main character, was