Scarlet letter pearl
Scarlet letter - pearlThe Little Human A Incarnate
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, many of the characters suffer from the tolls of sin, but none as horribly as Hester's daughter Pearl. She alone suffers from sin that is not her own, but rather that of her mother. From the day she is conceived, Pearl is portrayed as an offspring of evil. She is brought introduced to the pitiless domain of the Puritan religion from inside a jail, a place where no light can touch the depths of her mother's sin. The austere Puritan ways punish Hester through banishment from the community and the church, simultaneously punishing Pearl in the process. This isolation leads to an unspoken detachment and hatred between her and the other Puritan children. Thus we see how Pearl is conceived through sin, and how she suffers when her mother and the community situate this deed upon her like the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom. Pearl is thought of being an evil child with demon like qualities, yet she is spirited and very loving towards her mother.
Hester Prynn constantly questions Pearl's existence and purpose asking God, "what is this being which I have brought into the world, evil?" or inquiring to Pearl, "Child, what art thou?" Hester sees Pearl as a reminder of her sin, especially since as an infant Pearl is acutely aware of the scarlet letter A on her mother’s chest. When still in her crib, Pearl reached up and grasped the letter, causing "Hester Prynne [to] clutch the fatal token so infinite was the torture inflicted by the intelligent touch of Pearl's baby-hand" (Hawthorne 66). The torture Hester felt was reflected by the significant reminder of the sin that brought Pearl into life. Hester feels guilty whenever she sees Pearl, a feeling she reflects onto her innocent child. In this manner, Hester forces the child to become detached from society. Pearl becomes no more than a manifestation based entirely upon Hester's and Dimmesdale's original sin. She is described as "the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!"(70). Or in other words a living child demonstrating her parents sin.
Hester's views toward Pearl changes from merely questioning Pearl's existence to perceiving Pearl as a demon sent to make her suffer. Hawthorne remarks that at times Hester is, "feeling that her penance might best be wrought out by this unutterable pain"(67). Hester even tries to deny that this "imp" is her child, "Thou art not my...
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