Pearl Scarlet Letter
“In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only sin is getting caught.” This quote said by Hunter S Thompson perfectly details the act of adultery in the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The adultery committed by Hester’s with Reverend Dimmsdale resulted in the sinful child Pearl being born. Pearl is the visual embodiment of evil in Puritan society; Hawthorne included her in the novel to give the reader a visual representation on what the Puritans believe is evil or sinful.
For the duration the novel we can see that the Puritan society views Pearl as the embodiment of sin. A plethora of people believe this because Pearl is a byproduct of Hester’s adultery. Especially in Puritan society, adultery was a major sin; this …show more content…
Pearl herself is a constant reminder of her sin because she is the result of her sin. It also doesn’t help that throughout the novel Pearl is fixated on the letter and constantly questions its originality. This reminder is literal and figurative at the same time. It literal because of Pearls actions that remind Hester of her sin like making an A out of seaweed. “Pearl took some eelgrass, and imated, as best she could. on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter, the letter, A” (page 174). Here we see that Pearl is actually making and imitating the A the her mother wears. Later we find Hester stating “My little Pearl! The green letter, and on thy child bosom, has no purport. But dost thou know, my child, what this letter means which thy mother is doomed to wear?” (page 175). This statement help us understand that Hester believes she is doomed to wear the letter as a punishment and is reminded by the consequence of her action, which is Pearl. Pearl’s way of reminding Hester of her sin is also very figurative as well. This is because Pearl herself, represents Hester’s sin. She is a bastard child and a result of adultery. We can she this countless times throughout the novel as even Hester questions what Pearl is, or if she’s a demon child. By this we can distinguish that Pearl reminds Hester of her sin and is the
For the duration the novel we can see that the Puritan society views Pearl as the embodiment of sin. A plethora of people believe this because Pearl is a byproduct of Hester’s adultery. Especially in Puritan society, adultery was a major sin; this …show more content…
Pearl herself is a constant reminder of her sin because she is the result of her sin. It also doesn’t help that throughout the novel Pearl is fixated on the letter and constantly questions its originality. This reminder is literal and figurative at the same time. It literal because of Pearls actions that remind Hester of her sin like making an A out of seaweed. “Pearl took some eelgrass, and imated, as best she could. on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter, the letter, A” (page 174). Here we see that Pearl is actually making and imitating the A the her mother wears. Later we find Hester stating “My little Pearl! The green letter, and on thy child bosom, has no purport. But dost thou know, my child, what this letter means which thy mother is doomed to wear?” (page 175). This statement help us understand that Hester believes she is doomed to wear the letter as a punishment and is reminded by the consequence of her action, which is Pearl. Pearl’s way of reminding Hester of her sin is also very figurative as well. This is because Pearl herself, represents Hester’s sin. She is a bastard child and a result of adultery. We can she this countless times throughout the novel as even Hester questions what Pearl is, or if she’s a demon child. By this we can distinguish that Pearl reminds Hester of her sin and is the