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The Environment In Little Fires Everywhere By Celeste Ng

964 Words4 Pages

From the air we breathe to the food we eat, the environment around us plays a critical role in shaping who we are as individuals. Our surroundings can affect everything from physical and mental health to our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Whether we realize it or not, the environment we grow up in and live in profoundly impacts our development and the choices we make throughout our lives. In short, our environment shapes us in ways we may not even be aware of. Showcasing this effect is in Celeste Ng’s novel, Little Fires Everywhere, set in the 90s, two families are brought together in the small town called Shaker Heights because of their children, and when they collide, it all burns down. In Celeste Ng’s novel, Pearl is shaped by her environment …show more content…

Pearl Warren is the daughter of Mia Warren. She is drawn to comfort and security and is shy but very talented in the smarts. When Pearl and her mother moved to Shaker Heights, she was welcomed by the community as well as by a certain family in that community. The Richardsons made a profound impact on Pearl throughout the novel and show how much the environment has an effect on the people. For instance, Ng writes, “They dazzled her, these Richardsons: with their easy confidence, their clear sense of purpose, no matter the time of day. At Moody’s invitation, she spent hours at their house, coming over just after breakfast, staying til dinner” (pp. 35). The significance of this text shows how right when Pearl stepped through the Richardson doors, she saw what she didn’t have, perfection, and it entranced her. She …show more content…

When I was 16, I struggled with my mental health to the point where I thought about trying to end my life. I told them “I need help”. My family immediately worked on making me better and being there for me and my needs at the time. This was significant to my growth within me because I feel without my family being there for me I would not be where I am now. Before I tried to hurt myself, my family didn’t really care for checking in on my mental health and I myself wouldn’t update or talk to them either. But when I decided to reach out and tell them about my struggles, they showed a new side that I never knew and it overflowed with love and care for my life. It made me fall in love with my life again and my relationships with my family flourished. My mom made the most significant impact on me. For example, from the night I attempted to end my life, she would lie with me at night until I fell asleep just to make sure I am okay and that I get to rest. This is the most important environmental change for me because before this event in my life, my mother and I didn’t have a very good relationship and we would clash and never talk to each other. But after reaching out to her, she is now my best friend. I now share my life with her and she does as well with

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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).

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This child of its father’s guilt and its mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God” (Evans). Though as much as she wants to question Pearl being her daughter, she realize that Pearl is a living reminder of her “sin” she has committed. In the novel “the talk of the neighboring townspeople...had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring...ever since old Catholic times…

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How does it change the reader’s view of the prison? 4. Many times Pearl is portrayed as innocent and full of light. Why does Hawthorne then describe her as witch-like and how does this relate to the theme of the human tendency to transgress?

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Pearl, throughout the book, shows everyone in a new light. Through the eyes of a child, filled with understanding. Wanting to learn more about the people around her, lets us also get to read more of them in depth. Making Pearl essential to the book, from her birth giving the main plot of the story, to her being treated by the millionairess elders of the town, and finally being awaken into the new world, through so many deaths.

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For example, “A wolf … came up and smelt Pearl’s robe, and offered his savage head to be patted by her hand” (140). Finally, the similarities between Pearl and the forest show that nature can be a symbol for Pearl. Hawthorne portrays Pearl an innocent child who symbolizes moral freedom. She is not destined to commit the same sins as her mother. It is Pearl’s pwn choice to choose if she wants to act the same way as Hester, or learn from Hester’s mistakes.

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When the truth about Mia’s past comes out and how she lied to Pearl during her entire life, Pearl is devastated and hurt. In a fit of anger, Pearl expresses her pain, saying “ ‘Why are you telling me this?’ she had asked her mother. ‘I mean why are you telling me this now?’ Mia had taken a deep breath.

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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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Her constant questioning about her father unknowing creates hostility between her and her mother. The one person Pearl has in her life is Hester, who continuously cast her away to be alone. Another example of how Pearl's upbringing caused her to be lonely, is when she recognizes her fate of loneliness. Pearl is born an outcast since she is the product of sin in a christian world. She is a symbol of sin and therefore, does not fit in with the Puritan society that she is surrounded with.

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Pearl also needs her mother in her life, not only because no one is going to take her in, but because she needs motherly influence. Every child needs their mother in their life, for guidance, love and support. Without having Hester in Pearl’s life, she could turn into a bad kid. Or even make the same mistake that Hester made. Pearl could also turn into more of an aggressive kid, she already starts to show it when the town kids started to surround her, and she threw rocks at them.

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Hawthorne presents Pearl as very intelligent, determined and curious; she is a mixture of moods, silent with a mix of fierce temper. Pearl is a type of gem, made from an oyster and sand, that forms when an irritant of sand gets into the oyster and creates layers of nacre. Pearl is the result of the constant reminder of Hester’s sin, however she is a treasure, she came out of an irritant Pearl. She brings out the liveliness in Hester, she is always so curious of why Dimmesdale, Hester and her all couldn’t be seen together in the light or the public, she constantly asks her mother if, “‘he [can] go back with us, hand in hand, we three together into town?’”(198). By Hester having the A, Pearl pushes Hester into realizing that the shame shouldn’t be held in; she can have the right to love again, because of Pearl’s fresh liveliness and free spirit, she kept love alive, playing the conscience of Hester.

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In parts where she’s playing and having fun, she’s always followed by bright rays of light from the sun or the stars. While this is often true, in some circumstances, Pearl can be portrayed as dark and evil. After becoming upset over her mother’s missing letter, she glances down at her reflection in a small puddle. In this puddle, the reader is told about the “shadowy wrath of Pearl’s image”(183). This just goes to show that even though she’s mostly happy and bright, there’s a dark side to Pearl and it can come out when she’s the angriest.

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Therefore we see how Pearl is conceived through sin, and how she suffers when her mother and the community situate this deed upon her like the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom. Hester Prynn influences her feelings of guilt onto Pearl, whom she sees as a prompt of her faults,

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