What is a single parent? Is it one who destroys their child’s life? Is it one who ultimately cannot raise a minor on their own? Or is it one who dedicates their lives to the well being of their kid? Imagine a parent, and for whatever reason they were left alone to raise a child. That parent you imagined has to work long hours just to put a meal on the table. That parent has to play the role of the mother and father. That parent has no financial support. Unfortunately, in our society, this image of a single parent is looked down upon. There are people that don’t realize how much a single parent goes through to give their child a better life.
When it comes to the controversial issue of parenting, I believe that a single parent has the ability to raise a child just as effectively as two parents can. The reasons why are because the minor can learn life lessons that can only be acquired with a single parent, the single guardian can be the best choice for the young one, and a single parent has the ability to put all their attention and care to the son or daughter. Although some readers may object that it is impossible for a single parent to take care of a child than two parents, I would answer that it is not impossible. In The Scarlet Letter, a woman named Hester and her baby daughter Pearl were ostracized from society; and the young mother was left alone to take care of her daughter. Ultimately, my goal is to demonstrate that a child with a single parent can be raised properly by using the example of Hester and Pearl.
By being with Hester, Pearl got to experience a different manner in life which enabled her to see an outside perspective of Puritan life and learn moral lessons from it. Pearl was not born into the typica...
... middle of paper ...
...” (271). Hester had effectively raised a youngster to become something that was not expected. Despite being shunned upon on, Hester found a way to positively show Pearl moral lessons with the scarlet letter. Even when the townspeople wanted to take Pearl away from her mother, they were not triumphant to do so. The mother’s life was solely about Pearl; to keep her protected, warm, fed, clothed and loved. My conclusion, which is that based on the success of Pearl’s life, is that a single mother can raise a child. A single parent has the capability to nurture and love a son or daughter just as two parents can. A single parent sometimes is the best choice of who the minor can be with. A single parent may have challenges, but they can overcome them just to keep the child they love alive and well. Is it time now to realize what a single parent can truly accomplish?
Hester accepts the Puritan way and sees Pearl as a creature of guilt. Another symbol of Pearl is her moral virtue.
The two of them, after Dimmesdale dies, continue with their plans to go back to England where they hope for a better life. Once in England, the two are able to change their lives around for the better. Pearl is even found to have a family of her own: “Mr. Surveyor Pue, who made investigations a century later, … Pearl was not only alive, but married, and happy, and mindful of her mother; and that she would most joyfully have entertained that sad and lonely mother at her fireside” ( Hawthorne 392). Pearl was able to overcome her old life and create a new one, a better one, one that was just for her. Even though her mother was no longer around she tried her best to kept in touch with her. She also kept her and her mother’s experience in mind never to let herself go back to that life. After spending many years in England, Hester finally returns to New England. When she returns she is full of sorrow and regret; however, she continues to wear her A on upon her chest as a reminder of her pain. With returning to the land of sin, people came to Hester, mostly women, with problems of their own. They hope by talking to someone who has been through so much will help them, or give them insight on what life is like to be on the outside: “And, as Hester Prynne had no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble. Women, more especially,—in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion,—or with the dreary burden of a heart unyielded, because unvalued and unsought,—came to Hester’s cottage, demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy! Hester comforted and counseled them, as best she might” (Hawthorne 392-393). Even though Hester was miserable and thought that no
Pearl is a symbol of Hester’s transgressions and even has similar qualities as the sin which she represents. Pearl’s life and behavior directly reflects the unacceptable and abnormal nature of Hester’s adulterous sin. Hester is plagued with more than just a letter “A”; she is given a child from her affair who is just as much a reminder of her sin as the scarlet letter. Ultimately Hester overcomes the shame associated the scarlet letter and creates a sense of family for herself and Pearl. This relationship is integral to the theme of this novel and the development of its characters.
Despite the public shame she has experienced and many years of wearing the intimation of her adulterous sin, Hester Prynne remains proud and displays her letter boldly. Anyone that did not possess quite her level of emotional stamina and pride would have surely decreased in character and may possibly even lose all hope in life, but Hester proves to be very different. Instead of reacting to the humiliation and remarks of the commons in a hostile manner, Hester instead ignores these things and focuses her mind more toward memories of years past, as she did while standing on the scaffold for the first time. Hawthorne thus uses her young, spriteful daughter, Pearl, to represent the emotions that Hester either cannot, or chooses not to, display openly to others. In chapter 6, Pearl is described as showing “a love of mischief and a disrespect for authority,” which frequently reminded Hester of her own sin of passion. Similarly, in Pearl’s games of make-believe, she never creates friends. She creates only enemies – Puritans whom she pretends to destroy. It is a rare occurrence that a child so young in age should think such thoughts of morbidity, thus strengthening the evidence of Hawthorne’s use of Pearl as a display of Hester’s thoughts – thoughts of retaliating against the Puritans for ...
Pearl, the leading child in the novel, is an excellent example of childish innocence combined with almost preternatural perception. Her willpower and imagination make her a blessing and a curse to her mother, who has paid such a dear price for her child. "After testing both smiles and frowns, and proving that neither mode of treatment possessed any calculable influence, Hester was ultimately compelled to stand aside, and permit that the child be swayed to her own impulses" (Hawthorne 82).
As a living reminder of Hester’s extreme sin, Pearl is her constant companion. From the beginning Pearl has always been considered as an evil child. For Hester to take care of such a demanding child, put lots of stress onto her life. Hester at times was in a state of uncontrollable pressure. “Gazing at Pearl, Hester Prynne often dropped her work upon her knees, and cried out with an agony which she would fain have hidden, but which made utterance for itself, betwixt speech and a groan, ‘O Father in heaven- if Thou art still my Father- what is this being which I have brought into the world!’” (Hawthorne, 77).
Pearl lived a different life than any of the other puritan children. She is a free spirited child. Hester lets her blossom intointo the brilliant child she blooms into through the story. Pearl is not afraid to speak her mind. “She could recognize her wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud-shapes of gloom and despondency that had brooded in her heart” (Hawthorne 93). Hester saw the light in her child and embraced it. The other Puritan children are confused by Pearls behavior. They have never been around a child li...
...er to overcome the passion, once so wild that had brought her to ruin and shame." (Hawthorne, 165) It was Hester's motherly sentiments to nurture and love her child that saved her from temptation and from death and opened her heart to the poor and needy around her. It was the torturous fixation of her child upon her shame that tempered and refined her character and led her toward the precious virtue of being true to herself and others. And it was the reflection of her own character, even at Its worst, in her child that brought Hester to a greater understanding of herself and a desire to build a better life for Pearl. Pearl was more than merely her mother's tormentor--she was her blessing, her life, and the giver of the freedom to live a life true to herself and to her God.
As Hester makes her way to the platform, a visual image is brought forth that illustrates “ She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, …… because its existence,therefore, had brought it acquainted only with the gray twilight of a dungeon (Hawthorne 54).” Pearl has been exposed to her surroundings that are now far more than being held in a cell as a hostage. The puritan society is waiting for the two sinners to reveal themselves and express the type of crime they have committed not only against marriage but against god himself. Hester has exposed a delineate biography expressing how the people must see Pearl in clear pristine eyes with no connection to her sin for the idea that, Pearl is her given fruit by God , however she must not receive nor take in any of the humiliation nor the disgrace that has been given by the puritan people to Hester. She has transmitted and exposed the sentiment of emotion and affection which is something that Hester will never be able to do for the conviction of her sin. Pearl must imbibe and comprehend the mental conclusion that her world will be considered and compared to her mother's actions as civilian but she must break the spell and perfect her soul to reflect that her mother's sin has nothing to do with her ability to reach or accomplish the unexpected. Therefore, the violation or sin made by Hester Prynne should not apply to pearl for hallucination that she must project herself as a person that is honorable and dominant without having her mother's sin dictate her life. As a result, in the last moment of the paperback Pearl has become a virtue of loyalty to the upper class as a person to follow thy footsteps in exceeding her
Pearl is said to symbolize the result of sin but her character as a child have placed an innocent view of her contribution to the story. As any mother would accept their child she have accepted her “… torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too!”(Hawthorne 38). Hester “represent the violation of social contract” (Egan1), because of her simple imperfection of “struggles to meet the social demands.
The bond between a child and a parent is undeniable. A child entrusts their parent as a young child and throughout their life. In The Scarlet Letter, the attitude Pearl has towards her father, Dimmesdale, changes throughout the novel and as time progresses. Dimmesdale and Hester, who are Pearl’s parents, are two individuals who committed adultery under a Puritan society. Hester is publicly scrutinized and receives the punishment of having to wear the scarlet letter on her clothing, but can not be executed because there is no evidence of her having a husband. The result of their sin was their child, Pearl, who is seen as just that. She has wild behavior and serves as a reminder to Hester of her sin, as she reminds her of the scarlet letter. Pearl plays a vital role in the couple’s future throughout the novel.
“Alone in the world, cast off by it, and with this sole treasure to keep her heart alive, she felt that she possessed indefeasible rights against the world, and was ready to defend them to the death…God gave me the child!...She is my happiness – she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me, too...She is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved…Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” (The Scarlet Letter). Women who are alone often confided in their children for support. Their children bring them happiness, even though they can be a constant reminder of what they have done at times. Mothers have a right to defend their children and anyone who threatens to take them away, they are willing to do anything to keep them. “All the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by this red-hot brand, and had long ago fallen away, leaving a bare and harsh outline…Even the attractiveness of her person had undergone a similar change. (The Scarlet Letter). People who have traumatic experience are often changed in some way, shape, or form. They can change in a positive way or a negative way; it all depends
2. Dowd, Nancy. In Defense Of Single Parent Families. New York: New York University, 1997
Today, single parenting seems to be a prevalent issue. Ben’s mother underwent so many struggles in life. She was a foster child and got married when she was thirteen years old and found out that her husband was cheating on her and divorced him. She was illiterate and at times called herself dumb, she feared that her two children would turn out like her. As a single mom, she was the main driving force in her sons’ life. She even became strict because she was serious about her sons’ education. She wanted them to achieve what she couldn’t when she was younger. She was an authoritative parent as she gave them reading assignments to complete and allowed them to study their time tables. Because of her parenting style and her role as a single mother Ben excelled in school and defied the odds. Natalie C. Ernst in her article “The Psychology of Parenting styles” stated that “Authoritative parents are classified as the healthiest parenting style…they are demanding and responsive, assertive but not intrusive or restrictive…It also has an influence on psychological maturity while often helps children perform better in
For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figure around? Does the government provide help for single parents? What role do step-parents and step-siblings play? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguing argument. What people must understand is that properly raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family but should be more focused on the process