Essay On Pearl And The Forest

The forest is a crucial setting to the story, providing privacy from society and abundant nature that brings out the passion in each of the characters, yet interactions between Pearl and Dimmesdale emphasize a dissonance that exists between Pearl’s embodiment of truth and Dimmesdale’s adherence to society. Throughout the chapters that take place in the forest, the setting empowers Pearl and allows her organic nature to thrive. Pearl and the forest share a supernatural connection, to the point where the forest itself recognizes “a kindred wildness in the human child” (140). Although she is shunned by society, nature welcomes Pearl and gives her an independence to run free and play in the woods, in contrast to in the town where she must stick to Hester’s side. Pearl’s passion and imp-like qualities that cannot be forced to conform with traditional Puritan discipline since she was conceived in the natural but forbidden love between Hester and Dimmesdale. The
Only Pearl possesses the imagination that enables her to understand these messages from nature. The picture shows Pearl’s reflection in the brook, and she sees her mirror image in the water “with all the brilliant picturesqueness of her beauty, in its adornment of flowers and wreathed foliage, but more refined and spiritualized than the reality” (142), illustrating a key moment in which nature enhances Pearl’s vivacity. At this point, Pearl’s innate opposition to society combines with a surrounding environment devoid of civilization’s corruption, and she becomes a representation of untainted truth. The forest scene is the climax of the story, as it signifies that Hester and Dimmesdale will be presented in front of the ultimate form of truth, Pearl.
As most powerful character in the chapter “The Child at the Brook-Side,” Pearl drives the action of the plot through her reaction to Hester and