Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis

In this passage, Hawthorn demonstrates how Pearl has an unnerving and suspicious effect on her mother, which is portrayed to Hester by and image in Pearl’s eyes. It is made clear that Pearl is a constant reminder of Hester’s sin, and whenever Hester looks at the child, she sees what she describes as a symbol of “mockery.” This means that Hester has a very “troubled heart[]” and hence succumbs to various “delusions” which are likely a product of guilt and a trick of the mind rather than something of reality. Never the less, when Hester’s looks into the child’s eyes, instead of seeing her own image she claims to see an “elfish cast” or a “fiend-like” face. The words used create a mysterious if not dark and creepy connotation, particularly when

describing the child’s eyes. She uses figurative langue when comparing pools eyes to “small black mirror[s]” and describing the face as “freakish,” full “smiling malice,” and as an “evil spirit” that “posses” the child. Even with Hester describing the face in which sees in such a creepy manner, she is apparently not afraid of it, it bared the “semblance of features” that she apparently knew will and that served to torture her “many a time” after this initial experience. The solidifies the belief that Pearl is always a constant reminder of Hester’s sin, and that at times looking at Pearl can deeply disturb her, as if it re-confirms the fact that Hester sinned. It also serves to display of Hester is often caught off guard by this reminder, simple acts such as looking into to her daughter’s eyes can suddenly cause her great pain and distress that she wasn’t expecting.