Scarlet Letter Children
Children, giving more insightful and sincere opinions of Hester and Pearl in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter,’ are unable to fully comprehend why certain things appear the way they do. They find this time to speak their minds in order to get a grasp of what is going on around them, whereas adults know their limits. Unlike adults, children are not compelled to follow the expectations set out in a Puritan society and are unaware of what these expectations are since they learn through their parents. They are usually portrayed as innocent even though they express themselves as honest and cruel; this is due to their lack of experience and knowledge with society. Growing up, children go through a learning process where they observe and listen
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Instead, she was punished due to her mother’s actions. She grew up, not really learning how to socialize with others, which is why she seems strange or different from the other children. To prove this, Hawthorne writes, “Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin she had no right among christened infants” (97). To elaborate on this, she was excluded from the Puritan community because of her mother’s sin. She grew up with a different environment compared to the other children, not having much children living in the forest that she would be able to socialize with. However, because they were Puritans and she was a symbol and something against their belief, no one wanted to really know her or play with her. Additionally, it is Pearl’s nature to be curious and have questions for her mother. We see this in chapter fifteen when Pearl makes the scarlet letter out of the eelgrass, simply because she was curious. As said in the novel, “‘I wonder if mother will ask me what it means!’ thought Pearl” (185). This undoubtedly shows Pearl’s curiosity towards the scarlet letter. Even though Hester is tortured by the question, Peal is not doing it intentionally. Most children go through the stage where they are trying to figure life out. Growing up in the Puritan society, it is quite probable that Pearl saw people stand on the scaffold. As to whether she knows the meaning of the scaffold or not, she would also be wondering what Dimmesdale, Hester, and she had done in order to be punished by standing on it. Pearl had never seen anyone stand on the scaffold at night, so she asks if they are going to stand together the next day. This is perfectly logical in her mind since it doesn’t make sense to stand on the scaffold at night since no one has done it before. Pearl doesn’t ask this just because she has some
Instead, she was punished due to her mother’s actions. She grew up, not really learning how to socialize with others, which is why she seems strange or different from the other children. To prove this, Hawthorne writes, “Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin she had no right among christened infants” (97). To elaborate on this, she was excluded from the Puritan community because of her mother’s sin. She grew up with a different environment compared to the other children, not having much children living in the forest that she would be able to socialize with. However, because they were Puritans and she was a symbol and something against their belief, no one wanted to really know her or play with her. Additionally, it is Pearl’s nature to be curious and have questions for her mother. We see this in chapter fifteen when Pearl makes the scarlet letter out of the eelgrass, simply because she was curious. As said in the novel, “‘I wonder if mother will ask me what it means!’ thought Pearl” (185). This undoubtedly shows Pearl’s curiosity towards the scarlet letter. Even though Hester is tortured by the question, Peal is not doing it intentionally. Most children go through the stage where they are trying to figure life out. Growing up in the Puritan society, it is quite probable that Pearl saw people stand on the scaffold. As to whether she knows the meaning of the scaffold or not, she would also be wondering what Dimmesdale, Hester, and she had done in order to be punished by standing on it. Pearl had never seen anyone stand on the scaffold at night, so she asks if they are going to stand together the next day. This is perfectly logical in her mind since it doesn’t make sense to stand on the scaffold at night since no one has done it before. Pearl doesn’t ask this just because she has some