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Critical analysis of the Scarlet letter
The mischievous character of pearl in The scarlet letter
Critical analysis of the Scarlet letter
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, Pearl abandons her once wild, untamed nature for a mature and humane lifestyle, because of her father's public confession. Pearl is originally described as a wild, inhumane child with no regards to the laws of both the town and the Puritan society. Pearl often surprised her mother with her elfish behavior: “It was a look so intelligent...but generally accompanied by a wild flow of spirits, that hester could not help questioning, at such moments, whether Pearl was a human child” (Hawthorne 84). At first Pearl can be seen acting out in direct defiance to the law.
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).
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…
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.
The Witch’s Hammer is another name for a manual known as the Malleus Maleficarum. This manual was written by Heinrich Kramer in 1486. Jacob Sprenger was originally attributed as an author as well but some scholars now believe that was an attempt on Kramer’s part to lend his book more official credentials. Both Kramer and Sprenger were from the Dominican Monastatic Order. The goal of this manual was to eradicate heretics, including those who followed the Catholic faith but denied the existence of witchcraft or professed to be Catholic but practiced witchcraft.
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.
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.
Childhood is an important aspect of life that shapes a person into who they are. Both negative and positive aspects will follow through to all parts of their personality during life. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a child Pearl is born through the sin of Adultery by her mother, Hester, and her father Dimmesdale. He is the minister of their Puritan community and thus keeps his identity, as Pearl's father, hidden until his moment of death, but Hester wears a scarlet A, embellished into her bosom, to remind her of the shame and guilt. Pearl seeks answers about her father from the moment she could talk but Hester refuses answers.
This way of playing is very different from the way the other Puritan children played. Some of the townspeople called this witchcraft, and she was called witch-baby. Pearl was also very different from the other Puritan children in the way she acted. She did not follow the rules set for most Puritan children, and she did not act like them at all. Pearl does not fit in with the other children.
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.
By creating a world for herself within nature, Pearl mocks the institutionalized society surrounding her, proving how she is the most transcendental character. Nathaniel Hawthorne chooses to describe Pearl Hester as “material of [the] earth” and “a lovely and immortal flower” to show how she possesses natural qualities, something characteristic of a transcendentalist (61, 62). In addition to possessing “beautiful and brilliant…[natural] elements,” Pearl develops an individualistic relationship with nature (62). While in “seclusion from human society,” Pearl creates “her [own] inner world,” using “a stick, a bunch of rags, [and] a flower” to depict a variety of “imaginary personages” (65). By using the “black and solemn…pine-trees” to represent
The author says, “But Pearl, who was a dauntless child, after frowning, stamping her foot, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies, and put them all to flight. ”(98-99) Pearl is evil to other kids, she tortures animals, she is a symbol of
It is quite obvious in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter that Pearl, Hester Prynne 's daughter, plays a major role. Not only is she one of the main characters, but she is prevalent theme in the novel, as well. Pearl is not written like a regular character. Most of the other symbols in the story, such as the scarlet letter or the rose bush, lead back to Pearl. Pearl takes on many symbols and serves great purpose.
INTRODUCTION: Dilemma at Devil’s Den is a case of a student Susan, who works at campus snack bar “Devil’s Den” as a part time job. Devil’s Den is managed by an external company, College Food Service (CFS). Susan notices an issue that the employees of Devil’s Den were taking free food for themselves and their friends where policy was that employees could take free food while working.
She didn’t mind that she did not connect with humans. She knows a joy that other Puritan children did not. She was mischievous and unpredictable because she was isolated and she thought the laws didn’t apply to her. Isolation made Pearl different from
