Light In The Scarlet Letter

According to Buddha, there are three things cannot be hidden be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, Pearl serves the purpose on how one should be true to themselves no matter what society says. Hawthorne uses Pearl to relate to the truth with stylistic choices such as diction, imagery and symbolism. More importantly in diction as it is shown throughout the whole novel.

"But she named the infant 'Pearl,' as being of great price- purchased with all she had- her mother's only pleasure" (Hawthorne 85). Pearl being one of the main characters and symbols in Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, is one of the biggest character because of what she represents. Pearl represents many things in this novel. Although many believe that Pearl is more of just a character to be the realistic symbol of Hester's mistake, Pearl is the main idea in this story. Pearl is a character that represents the complicatedness of love, proudness and pride, and most of all adultery involving Hester and Dimmesdale.

Hawthorne conveys his idea of adultery through Pearl. He connects the “sprite-like” child and the scarlet letter - adultery - to make them the same. Pearl was born from adultery, just like the letter. She is “the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!” (92). Pearl is not a real child, but instead the living form of the letter; explaining her mystical tendencies and fascination with the Black Man. The novel is the life story of the Scarlet Letter and Pearl, for they are born and disappear at the same time. Hawthorne uses this breathing symbol of adultery to directly affect the other characters. He turns Pearl

Often times, children remind their parents of the mistakes they previously made. However, if the adults gain enough courage and learn to stand up to their wrongdoings, their children will help them see and reach their upmost greatness. Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates the life of Pearl, a young girl, in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. Initially, Hester Prynne, Pearl’s mother, marries Roger Chillingworth; however, she soon meets the Puritan Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl results 9 months later. The Puritan society forces Hester to wear a scarlet and gold colored “A” on her chest as a reminder of her crime - adultery. In society’s eyes, Pearl serves as a reminder of Hester’s sin, establishing Pearl as a living scarlet letter, although

“Imagination is the key ingredient to overcoming fear and doubt.” Throughout “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne tends to emphasize the intensity of Pearl’s imagination by describing the way Pearl saw the world around her and by talking about the way the people who noticed her vivid imagination, referred to her as a “witch-child”. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Pearl grows up secluded from the rest of the children in the New World. She learns to entertain herself and keep herself company by using her imagination. This is one big example of Pearl overcoming the hardships that she grew up with. As the book progresses, and as Pearl gets older, we see her overcome more hardships she is challenged with to create a strong, independent young girl. The poem provided written by Emily Dickinson comes to show how overcoming Pearl’s hardships led her to blossom from a strong, independent young girl, into an even stronger, successful woman.

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the character Pearl is not only a major character, but also a constant symbol of redemption. She is the punishment for Dimmesdale and Hester’s sin as well as their path to salvation. Most importantly, however, Pearl is the scarlet letter itself. Pearl’s behavior and influence establish her role as a key symbol and a means to the evolution of the other characters.

The scarlet letter is a symbol of guilt with the power to transform not only its wearer, but everyone involved in its inaugural scandal. Pearl and the letter share a certain relationship, and at times seem to mirror each other, as they exhibit similar tendencies. As children of indignity alike, they unconsciously serve as emotional grim reapers, and together, they unwillingly carry out the supernatural mandate of punishment rationed to them through sadistic and demoniac means. Because the two chosen are but unwilling situational puppets strewn by fate, it is impossible for self proclaimed vigilantes of the paranormal to come out unscathed. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s thusly named romantic novel of 1850, the scarlet letter, its identity, and

Pearl, Hester’s child out of wedlock, then emphasizes on the idea of darkness following Hester when she declares to Hester, “the sunshine does not love you. It turns away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Hawthorne 167). The letter on Hester’s bosom not only repel the townspeople, it drives off the sunshine and light that used to follow her wherever she went. She is considered as a social outcast among her peers and even the children of the community. However, still in the forest, when Hester rips the Scarlet Letter from her chest and throws it into the nearby brook, “all at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees” (Hawthorne 186). Once the letter is no longer attached to Hester, she is set free from her guilt and grief that she has endured for so many years. She is no longer controlled by the “iron-framework” (Hawthorne 111) of the puritan society and is able to be with Dimmesdale, her true lover, without the guilt that was brought upon her by the Scarlet Letter.

In The Scarlet Letter, the author uses many descriptions of light and dark both for character and scene which illustrate the different emotions of people in different scenes in order to establish the main idea which is the original sin of humans and ultimate salvation. To begin with, Hawthorne performed an excellent job using light and

Sunlight is used to communicate the idea that it is best to acknowledge one’s sins when it touches Hester upon removing the scarlet letter. Pearl states that “‘The sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something

Light, in today’s world, is seen as pure and revealing;Whilst darkness perceives a more concealed and shadowed look. This can be used in literature to pertain to the overall traits of the character. In most scenes with Hester, she is in the shadows, unlike Pearl who, like a shining star, is always in the sunlight. Dimmesdale is two-faced in the story, in the light he portrays a false image of himself, however in the dark he reveals his true character. In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses light and darkness to reveal the characters’ morality.

In the ninth through eighteenth chapters of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, many things are established. The characters in the novel are beginning to be fully characterized, Pearl is described as “elvish” and to have an “elf-smile in her eyes” and at such a young age Pearl displays a supernatural intelligence that most three year-old’s do not possess. Pearl is a living example representing the sin of adultery that Hester Prynne, her mother, has committed, which connects to the theme. Pearl is very much alike her mother Hester, because of their captivating beauty. Another character development is the evolution of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale’s illness. Dimmesdale becomes extremely ill, and he punishes himself because of the sin he committed which was also adultery, with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale slowly begins to attempt to reveal his sinfulness through his sermons, but this leads his congregation to believe he is very holy and could never be a sinful being. Hawthorne uses dramatic irony, through this situation because the reader knows who the father of Pearl is and that Dimmesdale committed adultery, but the people of the

This ridicule has a trickle down effect on Hester as she too is banished from her own community for committing adultery. The comparison between Hester and Hawthorne defines the external struggle for the reader to fully understand the effect of opinions from society on them Although reluctant to allow Hester to leave prison, the members of the town suggest that her punishment be to wear a scarlet red letter A on her bosom, thereby allowing all to know of her crime. The scarlet letter “ was red-hot with infernal fire, ” (Hawthorne 81) and defined the state she was currently in, that being eternal hell. Though she was forced to marry an older man at a young age, her rebellion to have an affair is not seen as an internal struggle that she overcame; rather, it is merely seen as a woman who sinned, a woman who shall therefore endure the punishment for the sin, rather than a woman who was never given a say in what she wanted with her life. Time and again, Hester Prynne is seen defying society by allowing herself to stand out from societal norm just as the roses “with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner“ (Hawthorne) did. Instead, she returns to the community and is observed aiding those in need, all with seven year old Pearl by her side.

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne characterizes Pearl with contrasting personalities and roles she plays in Hester’s life. Pearl’s conflicting personality components, innocence and defiance, both derive from her isolation from society, which transpired because of her mother’s sin. Pearl represents the conflict between everything good and dark, which reflects in the role she plays in Hester’s life, as the physical embodiment of the A. While Pearl serves as a savior to Hester, representing possible redemption, she is also Hester’s tormentor, a constant reminder of her sin, and the consequences of disobeying her Puritan nature and religion. Hawthorne’s intent is established in the novel through Pearl’s attachment to the A, the mirror

Hester continues to face conflict, this time with herself. When Hester faces the reality of the unpleasant situation she is faced with, her self conflict begins. Hester’s feelings are expressed when it is stated, “She clutched the child so fiercely to her breast that it sent forth a cry; she turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself the infant and the shame were real” (52). Conflict within Hester’s life continues in mothering her curious child. Pearl’s curiosity is revealed when she asks, ‘ “. . . Mother dear, what does this scarlet letter mean? –and why dost thou wear it on thy bosom?” ’ (161). Hester feels the responsibility of protecting Pearl from knowing her mother’s sinful actions. The constant questioning puts Hester in a contradictory position. Mothering Pearl causes conflict a second time when Pearl is considered an outcast from other