Pearl: the Constant Reminder In the 1650's the strict Puritan community, in Boston Massachusetts punished those who sinned. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the main character, Hester, is punished and looked down upon for committing adultery. When Hester has her baby, Pearl, The Puritans see her as having a bit of evil in her. Pearl, who is a constant reminder to Hester about the sin she had committed, is a significant symbol in this novel. In the beginning of the novel, Pearl always reminds Hester of her sin, even though she does not mean to do so purposely.
Trust is a very important element in being a social person. Being trustworthy and loyal is extremely honorable in human character but at times the truth is too hard to swallow. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, by classic American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, the contrast of truth and lies is a reoccurring idea throughout the novel. Hester Prynne is a young puritan woman of God who had committed adultery while her husband left Boston, Massachusetts to travel to Europe. Because she lived in such a God driven and puritan town, the judicial system of the settlement had decided for her to acknowledge her sin by embroidering a vibrant scarlet letter “A” onto her dress to symbolize adultery.
This caused her to be humiliated and punished in front of the whole town. Hester Prynne unquestionably the protagonist of this novel even though she had committed sin at the beginning. Hester Prynne was given the chance for this story to never leave the town and she wouldn’t have had to wear the letter “A”, but she decided to stay in the town and succumb everything that was given to her. She tried to accomplish the best and succumb all of the punishments that were meant to diminish her. She constantly made herself useful towards the other people, and used the talents and gifts that were given to change the meaning of her punishment into her becoming he legend of her Puritan Age.
Hester worries about Pearl though. Townspeople believe Pearl is of the Devil and Hester believes Pearl is the physical product of her sin. 5. Hester believes, that god gave her Pearl as a source of salvation and a reason to live. Chapter 7 1.
Notes On A Scandal: Explore the relationship between Barbara and Sheba The whole concept of the relationship between Barbara and Sheba is the diversity allying jealousy and commitment. Throughout the novel, Heller presents Barbara as being constantly dedicated towards Sheba rather than to anyone else. Whereas Sheba prefers to surround herself with other colleagues like Sue – ‘All the frustration I felt at being shut out her life’ – this line personifies Barbara as being overbearing and a depiction of her being a motherly like figure. However, in chapter 18 the line – ‘I made her take a nap after lunch’ – this contradicts her acting like a maternal figure in the earlier chapter; by Sheba finally allowing Barbara’s manipulative ways to overcome her sense of worth. With the outcome of her being vulnerable and desperate like a child – this tailors to Barbara’s desire of being able to dictate her.
The Scarlet Letter In the passage of the scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we see the narrator doesn’t have the same attitude or views of the community. The harsh judgment Hester Prynne receives from the wives is predictable. Hawthorne’s diction in the narration reveals a tone of sympathy, while the words of the women scorn Mistress Prynne. The women who stood outside the prison door commenting on Hester Prynne punishment are described to be goodwives of a puritan community. The first woman to speak is a “hard featured dame of fifty”, she believes the good mature women of the church should have a say in the sentence of the mistress for they are wives, and will punish correctly.
The Conformity of Hester Prynne Melissa Cribb Baker College – Online October 25, 2011 In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is marked as an adulteress by the Puritans for having an affair while her husband is nowhere to be found. As punishment, she is forced to wear a red letter ‘A’ on her bosom as indication of her moral weakness and to try to make her conform to their belief that women project frailty and sinful passion. Hester Prynne’s conformity is in the fact that she wears the letter and allows herself to be alienated but it is only on the surface as she uses it to create her own identity. This is proven in the care and protection of her daughter, her philosophy, her work with the town’s people and the fact that she becomes a maternal figure to the women of the community. At the beginning of Hester’s story, she is led out of the jail into the town square wearing the red letter “A” and holding her daughter.
The process of reading “the Scarlet Letter” reminds me of the feeling of enjoying a cup of tea--- as I explored more about the plot, the complex themes gradually revealed chapter by chapter. After reading the first three chapters I estimated that Hester would probably end up dead tragically. While the next chapters made my thought drastically change and then I believed Hester and her daughter Pearl would go on their lives peacefully. The fact that Dimmesdale was Pearl’s real father didn’t surprise me, yet I was hugely astonished when I found out Dimmesdale confessed his sin in public and then passed away. The dramatic story really attracts readers’ attention, and what’s more, the meaningful themes of this outstanding work laid the foundation of its unique significance.
Her daughter Pearl is born because of this sin. Hester loves Pearl very much and wouldn’t have changed what she did. Pearl is a very significant symbol in this novel because she is a constant reminder to the citizens that Hester had committed adultery. At the beginning of the novel, when Pearl was just a baby, she was a symbol of the sin that Hester had committed. Pearl was proof that she had committed adultery.
The protagonist, Hester Prynne, decided to pursue a forbidden courtship, committing adultery and ultimately having a child out of wedlock with the once esteemed Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. The community leader requires Hester to wear the Scarlett Letter “A” to remind her of the sin she had committed. Pearl, Hester Prynne’s daughter, realized the turpitude that her mother committed. Again, while a parent is generally someone who a child admires and respects, Pearl learns immensely her mother’s flaws. In fact, it is Pearl who provides the harshest and most penetrating judgment of her mother.