Pearl Significance Of Pearl

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“The Significance of a Pearl”
Pearls can be very difficult to find in the vast oceans, but once found they can come at an expensive but worthwhile cost for the owner. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, who is the result of the adultery between Hester and Dimmesdale, resembles a pearl from the ocean. Apart from Hester Prynne, the woman who bears the shame of the scarlet letter A, her daughter Pearl is also an important character closely connected with the outcomes of their lives. Therefore Hester giving Pearl her name relates to the significance of a pearl formed in the ocean; the cost of the object, the rarity of the pearl, and being a treasure to the beholder. Initially Pearl was portrayed as the result of an adulterous …show more content…

In particular, pearls are very small treasures that signify compelling meaning in the lives of many people. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester’s treasure is her daughter, Pearl, because she is the only thing Hester has to cherish in her life. After many years, “Pearl, with her remarkable precocity and acuteness…could be made a friend” (176). Hester has come to cherish her daughter and realise how much of a treasure Pearl is to her. Hester and Pearl were shunned from the public, so all they had left were each other. Pearl, being very wild and bright, had shone light onto Hester’s difficult, dark situation relating to the scarlet letter A. Thus Pearl was a treasure to her mother Hester, through all of the painful times they had to face when surrounded by the public. Without Pearl shining light onto Hester’s life, Hester would have been a different person after experiencing the envy from the Puritans. Also the scarlet letter Hester wore everyday represented Pearl being a treasure to Hester. In fact, Pearl only saw her mother with the scarlet letter, so it signified the existence of her own life. When Hester’s daughter was born “the first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware was the scarlet letter on Hester’s bosom!” (93). As a result of wearing the letter everyday since Pearl was born, Hester continues to wear it since it signifies the presence of her daughter. Pearls in the ocean are related to Pearl in the novel because both are small treasures to someone important in their

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