" The child could not be made amenable to rules. In giving her existence a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder, or with an order peculiar to themselves, amidst which the point of variety and arrangement was difficult or impossible to be discovered(81-82)."
a passage from The Scarlet Letter VI: Pearl
Hawthorne provides an in-depth description of Pearl focusing on her contradictory nature. He initially describes her physical beauty then transitions to her wild and temperamental character. Even though she is innocent, to those in her society Pearl is a symbol of sin and like her mother has restrictions as to what she can and is allowed to do. Hester expects for her daughter to have a nature similar to that of the sin which created her. Hester believes that since the thing she did was considered evil then the product of it, her child, must also be evil, which helps to imply the narrator's criticism of the narrow-mindedness of Puritans. Since Pearl is a product of sin and love her ways are somewhat understood. With knowledge of this, Pearl is definitely seen as a unique child especially since she contests having a "Heavenly Father." Pearl also however, symbolizes everything that Puritans reject including imagination and passion. In some ways, Pearl is seen as a smaller version of Hester, who carries with her characteristics that Hester has learned to control in order to maintain life within the Puritan boundaries. Since Pearl embodies this nature, Hester finds it hard to discipline her. Harsh discipline for children was strongly advocated by Puritans, who taught children to revile difference which is why Hester and Pearl are treated this way. This passage clearly summarizes who Pearl has become because of the circumstances that she was a product of.
1. What was the first thing Pearl noticed as a child and why is that significant?
2. How does Pearl handle interactions with other children in the town?
3. Why do the townspeople want to take Pearl from Hester?
The first thing Pearl noticed as a child was the scarlett letter. The first wrds of a child is usually mother(or father or something of the sort), in this story we werent givin the first words, but we were given her first site, the scarlett letter. The fact that she was attracted to it so much will eventually develop into questions of "whats" and "whys". Pearl even learns to dispise the symbol in a way as she grows older.
ReplyDeletePearl keeps to herself. She enjoys the most simple things and doesnt concern herself with the other children. When the other children take notice of her, she scares them off with her high temper and fighting spirit.
And lastly, the townspeople wants to take Pearl away from Hester because they don't believe Hester can "train a child up in the way that it should go". The townspeople thinks that because Hester has sinned, she can no longer teach her child, Pearl, about God, her heavenly father.
Like Kesley had said, the first thing that Pearl noticed as a child was the scarlet letter “A” embedded on Hester’s clothing. This was extremely significant because it was something that Hester did not want Pearl to notice as it was affiliated with the sin and evil Hester had committed. Hester, of course, did not want such a terrible symbol to be Pearl’s first impression of her, so you can see why it had such a profound effect over Hester in that being the child’s first thing to notice.
ReplyDeletePearl handles interactions with the other children in the town by striking back at them. She does not just take and accept the ridicules of the other kids, but actually fights back and defends her dignity. She basically does what Hester wants to do, but doesn’t to maintain her standing with society and not be seen as worse than she had already been by committing adultery and destroying her reputation within society.
The first thing Pearl noticed as a babe was the scarlet letter which reseted on her mothers chest. It's presence warranted acknowledgement from Pearl. Being the the first thing she noticed Hester was scared that the letter would be all she would be recognized as by her daughter and that she would look at her mother and the letter as the means that she was created.
ReplyDeleteChildren and pearl do not get along very well she usually lashes out and pushes them when they begin to gang up on her. The worst part is that they have yet to fully grasp why they are treating Pearl a certain way, they do so simply because they have been shown by example and taught by parents in a very unforgiving society