Carrie Shuey. Mrs. Voshell. Honors English 10. 6 January

104 - Hester is desperate for Pearl. If Pearl is taken away from her she will “die” for she has no will to live. The sin will soon become too heavy without Pearl. As every mother is protective, Hester as a mother too is protective. This is one of nature laws.

     After her horrible ordeal, and her release from prison, Hester and Pearl reside for the next few years in a hut by the sea. Hester tries to keep her distance from the Puritans. She does not want them to influence Pearl. Hester wants to raise Pearl, and find peace within herself. Pearl, however,

Brooke Graby Mrs. Voshell Honors English 10 6 January 2017 The Most Important Scenes in The Scarlet Letter There are many important scenes throughout The Scarlet Letter. The most important scenes include: when Hester is introduced with Pearl, when Dimmesdale is holding one of his vigils, when Pearl is almost taken from Hester, the walk in the woods with Dimmesdale, and the ending scene when Dimmesdale confesses his sin.

Pearl’s existence reminds Hester of her act of passion, which the cultural morality of Boston dictates as sinful. This is evident not only because Pearl is the product of Dimmesdale and Hester’s action, but because of who Pearl is at heart. Pearl’s personality is as stated,

The Scarlet Letter is an example of a story that has two conflicting ideas that coincide together. Redemption and regret do not always work together, but in the life of Pearl, they are two characteristics that cannot work without the other. It is important to realize that without the life of Pearl, Hester’s own life would not have been impacted in the way that it was, or even impacted at all. What others may see as a problem, can really be a blessing in

Tamara Johnson Mr. Migues Honors English 3 13 February 2015 Human Trafficking Human trafficking,the illegal practice of trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation, is a crime that affects the most vulnerable citizens of society. After drugs, it the largest criminal activity globally! The victims must be the primary concern for all law enforcement units. Human trafficking in the world can be diminished and possibly erased through teachings, government intervention, and awareness.

Second, Pearl is a symbol of Hester’s salvation and reason to keep living. Hester names her baby Pearl because she has paid a great price for her. In chapter eight, Hester has to fight to keep Pearl. When they go to the governor’s mansion, he threatens to take Pearl away from Hester. Pearl tells the men at the governor’s mansion that she was picked in the garden by the prison door. They are worried about her well being with Hester and want to remove her from mother. Hester fights to keep Pearl. ‘“God gave her into my keeping,” repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shriek. “I will not give her up!”—And here, by sudden impulse, she turned to the young clergyman, Mr. Dimmesdale, at whom, up to this moment, she had seemed hardly so much as once to direct her eyes” (Hawthorne 124). Pearl is a symbol of Hester’s sin and now Hester has to raise Pearl and teach her what she did wrong. Dimmesdale steps in and tries to back up Hester and tells the governor that Pearl would guide Hester and keep her from making mistakes that she made in the past. God has given Pearl to Hester as a blessing and a reminder of her sin. The mother and daughter have already built a strong bond and Pearl is keeping Hester alive. After all of this, Hester is allowed to take Pearl home with her, but she must follow guidelines. Hester was asked to join the Black Man in the

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

A mother’s love for her child compares to no other. Hester Prynne’s mothering abilities were challenged in the chapter, The Elf-Child and the Minister, but she did not let that deter her from fighting for her child. Mr. Wilson, a venerable pastor, cried out to Pearl “…who art thou, and what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee in this strange fashion? Art thou a Christian child-ha? Dost know thy catechism? Or art thou one of those naughty elfs or fairies whom we thought to have left behind us…”. Mr. Wilson’s interest in the child lead Governor Bellingham, an elderly gentleman, to inquire about her religious upbringing. “Canst thou tell me, my child, who made thee?” said the Governor. Even though the girl had been informed about her heavenly father, Pearl replied that “she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door”. The Governor was astonished and quickly implied that the child should be immediately released into the control of the Puritan Magistrate. Hester, a force to be reckoned with, confronted the Governor and yelled, “God gave me the child! He gave her in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness…Pearl keeps me here in life! … Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” Her passion for the child seeped through every word spoken by herself and Mr. Dimmesdale who also defended her. Hester faced many difficulties throughout the novel but she remained strong through everything, even when her daughter was threatened to be taken from her. It takes immense strength to continue living somewhere when everything you love is imperiled and you are constantly being

Hester argued that pearl should remain in her care, for god was teaching her to be righteous through her daughter. The men refused to listen to hester’s argument because not only is she a woman, and women were inferior to men in that time, but also because she is a sinner. Hester begged Mr. dimmesdale to vouch for her and only then did the men listen; this goes to show you that in this society women’s words were ignored and seen as worthless.

The scarlet letter symbolizes a part of Hester’s past that she can never forget but also represents a sense of strength that she overcame all the hardship that was a result of her sin, though she still feels the pain of the letter when encountering Mr. Dimmesdale. In chapter sixteen, Hester plans to meet with the minister in order to discuss their plans about what to do with Roger Chillingworth, but also just to talk to somebody who understands her situation. Eventually, Pearl brings up the Black Man again when she describes how “he haunts this forest, and carries a book with him [...] and how this ugly Black Man offers this book [...] to everybody that meets him here [...] and they are to write their names with their own blood [...] then

Alexis Byrd 3 September 2015 The Scarlet Letter- chapters 8- Plot 15 Pgs. 126-130- Hester and Pearl are in the governor's house. Pearl is on the ground playing while Hester talks to the governor. Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, and John Wilson then enters the room. They realize who the little girl in the floor is. They are talking bad about her, but then they see Hester is there. They then begin questioning the governors take on why Pearl is still with her. Hester speaks up and simply just says that she loves Pearl. She tells them she has learned something from the letter around her neck; she wants to help Pearl grow from it.

Hester Prynne, the woman that has been living as one of the biggest sinners in this town. Since the time that she had to carry with such an atrocious title, Hester has been humiliated, mentally harmed, and has slowly lost her own sanity. Now even though she has gone through

Hester’s battle with herself can only be understood by taking a glimpse into her daily life with her beloved daughter, Pearl. Pearl is the physical manifestation of her sin, of the adultery that Hester committed with her secret lover; with every waking hour, Pearl is always alongside Hester, constantly reminding Hester of her transgression. Whenever Hester sees Pearl, she sees a young and energetic girl, who also possesses the same attributes that she loathes about herself, the difficult and wild side of herself that would never give up. Hawthorne writes that Pearl, “lacked reference and adaptation to the world into which she was born. [Pearl] could not be made amenable to rules” (Hawthorne

2. The title of the book is ‘The Scarlet Letter’. The Scarlet letter refers to the letter, that the main character Hester Prynne, has to bear on her chest for the rest of her life. Hester got the red letter, because she didn’t want to give the name of the father of Pearl, that man is also the man who she had adultery with. In the Puritan community, adultery is a great sin, and therefore she has to wear that letter as a mark of shame.