Pearl shows courage throughout the novel by speaking up and asking questions, which is manifested throughout her constant interrogation of both her mother and her father. Pearl’s speaking out against her mother demonstrates her courage and defiance. She often goes against her mother and says what she is thinking, without worrying about the consequences. Sometimes, Pearl blatantly disobeys her mother, to the extent where Hester no longer recognizes Pearl as her sweet little daughter, but as someone else entirely. Pearl has always been obsessed with her mother’s scarlet letter; she is always touching it, and asking how Hester received it. One day, Pearl is playing in the tidepools at the beach, and she makes her own letter “A”, out of seaweed, …show more content…
When she first found out that Dimmesdale was her father, Pearl was standoffish. She didn’t really know him, or know what his intentions were. Pearl and Hester went into the forest so that Hester could meet with Dimmesdale for the first time in about seven years. Hester sent Pearl to go play in the brook so that they could have some alone time to talk. During this scene, Dimmesdale is waiting to meet Pearl, and tries to develop a connection. After seeing Dimmesdale, Pearl turns to her mother and asks without hesitation, “Will he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?”(119). Pearl speaks harshly regardless of the fact that her questions could put a strain on her tentative relationship with Dimmesdale. Her constant questioning definitely shows courage because she is willing to get answers without thinking about what could go wrong. Pearl’s pursuit for the truth is admirable, and she speaks up and asks questions rather than being silent and accepting everything that is going on. Pearl’s disputing what she is told is the truth is courageous, and because of it, she stands out from the rest of the Puritans. Another instance of Pearl questioning Dimmesdale occurs shortly after. Hester and Pearl are out and they see Dimmesdale in the town. Following their encounter with Dimmesdale at the brookside, Pearl says, “‘And will the minister be there?’ asked Pearl ‘And will he hold out both …show more content…
She asks the tough questions, the ones that everyone else was too afraid to ask. Today, Pearl’s courage would be applauded, because she is unafraid to ask the hard hitting questions. Instead of just believing everything she is told to be true, she challenges it and attempts to get answers. Personally, I find Pearl’s courage inspiring. Today, there are so many injustices around the world, and I hope that there are more people like Pearl who have the courage to speak up and challenge their society to make the world a better
Like Yin and Yang, Pearl generates all things around her and is a necessity to this story. Without Pearl, there would be no story. Pearl teaches everyone in the novel and the readers that someone or something can be what brings two people together, good outcomes can arise from irresponsible choices, and finally that in our own way we all symbolize something greater than we consider ourselves to
Pearl has spent her entire life knowing who her mother is and identifies her with and only with the letter on. “Pearl’s image, crowned, and girdled with flowers, but stamping its foot, wildly gesticulating, and in the midst of all, still pointing its small forefinger at Hester’s bosom!” (Hawthorne 173). In this scene, Hester takes the letter off when she is with Dimmesdale, and Pearl refuses to come near her until she puts the letter back on; she recognizes that the letter is a part of who her mother is. The identity of herself is also uncovered as a result of the letter. Pearl sees how the Puritan society treats her mother and refuses to act likewise. Not only does she stand up to those who judge Hester, but she also practices being kind instead. “Pearl was almost sure, [the bird] had been hit by a pebble and fluttered away with a broken wing. But then the elf-child sighed, and gave up her sport; because it grieved her to have done harm to a little being that was as wild as the sea-breeze, or as wild as Pearl herself” (Hawthorne 147). Pearl cares for the wellbeing of those around her, both human and animal. This has shaped who she is through her kindness and her intelligence; it becomes what her identity is and displays how she identifies her mother, verifying that she was impacted the most by the scarlet
Pearl is first introduced as the young babe clutched to Hester's chest, as she stands before a crowd of puritans beholding her humiliation. Embarrassed of the glaring letter on her chest, Hester thinks to hold little Pearl in front of her scarlet mark; however, she resolves that “one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another” (P.37). It is here that we see for the first time that Pearl has been reduced to nothing more than a symbol of Hester's sin, synonymous with the scarlet letter. As Pearl grows, so does the obvious nature with which Hawthorne portrays her as the scarlet letter. Throughout the book, we see Pearl dressed in bright clothes,
From the moment she is born in the cold, heartless prison, Pearl is placed under scrutiny. The townspeople see her as a visible reminder of sin, and it isn't long until even her own mother searches for evil in her. The girl is described as "the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!"(Hawthorne 103). With her fascination from an early age with the scarlet letter, Hester believes that Pearl's very reason for existence is to torment her mother. Hester fails to realize that the letter is just something bright and significant to which Pearl reacts; instead, she sees every glance, every word aimed at the letter, every touch of Pearl's tiny fingers to her bosom as an added torture resulting from her adultery. Hester, considering Pearl's very existence, goes so far as to question if the impish child is even her own. "Thou art not my child! Thou art no Pearl of mine!"(Hawthorne 99) she tells Pearl, only half-jokingly. In her own way, she wonders whether Pearl was sent to her by God or by a demon wishing to cause her pain. She is not alone in this speculation; many of the town's citizens believe there is something of the Devil in Pearl.
Pearl displays her kindness towards others despite being placed in a situation where her life could be subjected to change. During the scene where Pearl flings wildflowers at her mother, she dances around the garden every time she hits the scarlet letter, exhibiting that she was having a good time. Pearls mother asked whose child Pearl was, and was given a response filled with joy and compassion. Hawthorne describes Pearl’s response as saying “Oh, I am your little Pearl!”(Hawthorne 89) Pearls response means that Pearl is Hester's child, and Hester's child only. Her response, and creation of a game that was originally made to be a punishment displays not only her compassion for her mother, but also her utilization of her imagination to make the most out of an unfortunate situation. Perhaps the most painful example of Pearl’s compassion comes through a passage which Hawthorne writes about the conversation between Dimmesdale and Pearl writing “But wilt thou promise to take take my hand and my mother's hand, to-morrow noontide,” and
This, as Arthur Dimmesdale almost prophetically expresses in the early scenes of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, was the role of Pearl, the elfish child borne of his and Hester Prynne's guilty passion. Like Paul's thorn in the flesh, Pearl would bring trouble, heartache, and frustration to Hester, but serve a constructive purpose lying far beyond the daily provocations of her childish impishness. While in many respects a tormentor to Hester, Pearl was also her savior, while a reminder of her guilt, a promoter of honesty and true Virtue; and while an embodiment of Hester's worst qualities, a vision of a better life for Hester and for herself.
"To be fully human is to balance the heart, the mind, and the spirit.'; One could suggest the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, that one should not violate the sanctity of the human heart. Hester was well ahead of her time, and believed that love was more important than living in a lie. Dimmesdale’s theology and his inclinations render him almost incapable of action; Chillingsworth dammed himself, along with Dimmesdale. Hester was “frank with [Chillingsworth].';
... off exhibition across her mother chest. The through Pearl, the letter whispers to Hesters conciouosness that she cannot be released from her sin, the letter will not allow it, and neither will Pearl. The letter has become a part of Hester, it is no longer an act that she was involved in, it has come to define her as a person in Pearls point of view.
The first chapter sets the scene for the novel: Boston, during the seventeenth century. During this period, religion is the foundation for both the laws and the society. We are introduced to the town's cemetery and nearby prison. Next to the prison grows a wild rosebush. We can think of the wild rosebush as representing the beauty of nature, and the prison as the symbol of societies need to tame nature.
Pearl is Hester’s human form of her scarlet letter; both she and the scarlet letter constantly remind Hester of her sin of adultery. Pearl is the result of Hester’s adultery; therefore she has a strong connection with the scarlet letter. As a young girl, Pearl had always had a fascination and obsession with her mother’s scarlet letter. For example “In the forest scene when Hester takes off the Scarlet letter, Pearl becomes frantically disturbed and won’t quiet down until Hester has it back on her dress, as if by discarding the letter Hester has discarded Pearl,” (Johnson: A Literary Analysis of The Scarlet Letter, pg.1). The scarlet letter is a part of Hester, as is Pearl, if Hester removes the letter, she also disowns Pearl. The only way Pearl recognize her mother is when she has the letter on. Hester dresses Pearl in red so she can represent her scarlet letter. In the chapter, “The Governor’s Hall,” Pearl was described; “The child’s whole appearance reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!” (The Scarlet Letter, pg. 103 Johnson: Understanding The Scarlet Letter pg.1).
At the first of Pearl’s role in the story, it appears as though someone so grounded in her beliefs, spiritual and mental, would never be dynamic in character. However, that is not the case. This character analysis will explain the life of Pearl, and what she meant to other roles of The Scarlet Letter.
Pearl is reluctant to approach Dimmesdale, and she throws a fit when she sees her mother’s scarlet letter on the ground along with her hair down. Pearl has assumed the role of a living scarlet letter, so when she sees the letter on the ground she sees herself being disregarded by her own mother. Hawthorne’s purpose of this chapter is simple, he wants the reader to understand what is happening through Pearl’s perspective. For her or for any child, change is hard, and Hawthorne clearly demonstrates this idea throughout this
She understood the scarlet letter more and accepted Dimmesdale as her father because in the end Dimmesdale was the one who “saved” Pearl and turned her human. Pearl, who now has sympathies and feelings, had finally broken free of the symbolism she had on the scarlet letter. It was in nature, the forest, that she was able to find the answers she needed to know to be able to grow and keep discovering things. Therefore, this shows how much of a bond nature and Pearl created with each other due to the scarlet
Pearl had a great role in the scarlet letter. Her differences from the other Puritan children showed the reader the effect Pearls life had on her personality. Pearl was seen as the Devil’s child or a child from sin. Pearl proved to be quite the opposite, although she wasn't quite a human character but more of a symbol she added a touch of love and beauty to a story filled with hate and pain. Pearl really was the ray of sunshine in this world. Though she came from something seen as a sin she was truly a blessing. She helped her mom through her times of grief and she brought Dimmesdale out of hiding. In the end she was the only pure and true individual. Pearl was an amazing child who gave this story light.
Pearl is not only a symbol of Hester but also a symbol to Dimmsdale. Pearl will not let him into her life until he accepts his sin. She wants him as a father but will not let him until he will not hide his sin in public. Pearl knows that Dimmsdale will not be seen holding her hand in the public eye and this bothers her. She asks her mother, " wilt tho promise to hold my and thy mothers hand to-morrow?"(105)