Scarlet Letter Roast Essay

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,

In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells of a story where a young woman has had an adulterous relationship with a respected priest in a Puritan community. Typical of Hawthorne's writings is the use of imagery and symbolism. In Chapter 12, The Minister's Vigil, there are several uses of imagery when Dimmesdale, the priest, is battling with confessing his sin, which has plagued him for seven years. Three evident techniques used to personify symbolism in this chapter are the use of darkness versus light, the use of inner guilt versus confession, and lastly the use of colors (black versus white).

The Scarlet Letter Introduction The Scarlet Letter is a classic tale of sin, punishment, and revenge. It was written in 1850 by the famous American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. It documents the lives of three tragic characters, each of whom suffer greatly because of his or her sins. Shot Plot The story begins with Hester Prynne, a resident of a small Puritan community, being led from the town jailhouse to a public scaffold where she must stand for three hours as punishment for adultery. She must also wear a scarlet A on her dress for the rest of her life as part of her punishment. As she is led to the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd complain that

From her initial introduction to the reader as the “yonder babe, (…) of some three or four months old”, Pearl represents the beauty of the truth (54). As she struggles to find answers about her mother’s scarlet A while simultaneously growing up, Pearl identifies as an innocent character, despite her creation. It is frequently noted that she looks similar to the scarlet letter that her mother so reluctantly bears, with her “bright complexion [and] eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already of a deep, glossy brown” (76). Her similar appearance to the scarlet letter furthers her permanent connection to the letter. Additionally, it highlights the notion that her mother will likely never be able to look at her without reminiscing upon her sin. As Pearl develops, her fire-like actions and dark appearance further molds her into the fleshly expression of Hester’s adultery. Furthermore, Hawthorne ensures to characterize Pearl throughout the novel as a friend to the sunlight, a friend to the truth. As she begins to pick determine that Dimmesdale is her father, the sunlight welcomes her. This is because she is the only innocent character who is not afraid to step into the sun’s rays. Pearl recognizes the light’s love for her and audibly notes, “the

A common theme throughout literature is religion and how the author feels about his or her faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices to draw comparisons between characters and events in The Scarlet Letter and Biblical figures and accounts. A few of the devices found in this novel that connect it to the Bible are symbolism, paradox, allusions, and characterization. It is important to first look at the characters and how they are described through characterization.

Pearl also becomes the one reason Hester still enjoys her life. She accompanies Hester everywhere they go. However she also has issues caused by her lack of social interaction, when kids make comments to her she charges and screams at them. Pearl is also very smart for her age. Throughout the story she is able to make connections based on very subtle cues, such as why Dimmesdale places his hand over his heart.

Ch 5 1) Hester’s life is going as well as can possibly be while being the town’s pariah. The community treats her horribly, making her a symbol of sinful passion and frailty, while also scorning her whenever she comes in town. 2) On Page 82, Hawthorne writes: “She was patient-a martyr, indeed- but she forbore to pray for her enemies, lest, in spite of her forgiving aspirations, the words of the blessing should stubbornly twist themselves into a curse.” This shows that despite being a forgiving person, Hester does not trust herself to pray for the people in town due to her resentfulness towards them may end up ruining the prayer.

She was born in a prison, and is being raised in a cottage that is nowhere near the village where all the other children grow up. When people call her such things, she does hear, so this hurts her emotionally and makes this an internal conflict for she must deal with the feelings of being different and judged by others. Since she is isolated from that part of a normal childhood, her only friend in the novel growing up is her mother. This being another internal conflict because she grew knowing her mother always wears the scarlet letter, and is in a certain community that has rules about women. Now in the novel, chapter 17, Hester takes off a garment that covers her hair and removes the scarlet letter from her bosom. Pearl seeing this throws a tantrum for her mother to undo this doing. Causing a major internal conflict of how Pearl sees her mother and dealing with what her mother’s symbols stand for. Pearl mocks her mother for that. There’s an external conflict created by Pearl towards Dimmesdale for when he is conversing with Hester in the forest and he dwells for a kiss, but Pearl refrains. Pearl is a strange child, for she knows something must be going on.

She touches the scarlet letter, but little does she know that she is the reason for the punishment. They are social outcasts, so they don’t leave their house much. Pearl plays alone and has best friends that are imaginary. She distrusts her own imaginary friends for the same reason that she distrusts all the Puritans in the colony. People treat Hester and Pearl differently than everyone else is treated. She only loves Hester, because Hester spends time with her and is a good mother. She plays with her and teaches her Bible stories. Pearl knows the whole catechism at the age of three, but refuses to say it to anyone. She is smarter than everyone thinks she is. Chillingworth speaks to Pearl about the scarlet letter. He asked her if she knew the reason why her mother must wear the scarlet letter all the time. She replies, “Yes, that is the same reason why the preacher holds his hand over his heart.” Pearl asks her mom all the time the reason why she wears the scarlet letter and why the preacher holds his hand over his heart. She knows that they both do, but she doesn’t know why. Hester tells her that she wears it because of the pretty gold thread, but she doesn’t know the minister’s reason. Later in the story, Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl meet in the forest, and Hester rips the scarlet letter off. Pearl gets mad then, because she knows that her mother is supposed to wear it. Dimmesdale kisses Pearl, but she washes the kiss off with

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in 1849. This novel won him much fame and a good reputation as a writer. In writing The Scarlet Letter, Hawethorne was creating a form of fiction he called the psychological romance. A psychological romance is a story that contains all of the conventional trappings of a typical romance, but deeply portrays humans in conflict with themselves. The Scarlet Letter won Hawthorne great critical acclaim, and even today the book remains on the best seller list. The Scarlet Letter is so popular maybe because generations of readers can interpret it and see subtle meanings that somewhat reflect their own lives. Each of us, has

From his actions and poor judgement, individuals can see how much of a coward Dimmesdale is compared to Hester. Although, both have wrongly committed sin, this demonstrates how each character was able to deal with shaming. Pearl, on the other hand, is the living sermon. She is the product of her mother’s sin. Pearl is a constant reminder of how Hester cannot avoid of what has happened.

Pearl is difficult to understand because Hawthorne has created a black and white world where only Puritan truth exists. Everything can either be right or wrong; Hester’s sin is considered to be immoral, so she should repent. Dimmesdale’s preaching is considered to be moral, so he should be revered. In this world of clearly defined opposites, Pearl stands out as a mystery. Some readers may believe that Pearl is a mystery because she has a very fickle personality and is emotionally

Pearl was ostracized by the Puritan society and viewed negatively because she was seen as a product of sin (adultery). She was shunned by other children her age who tended to ignore her and threw mud at her. However, Pearl appears to be an insightful child. Pearl seemed to play a role in the events to the scaffold scene as she approaches Dimmesdale and allows him to piece to reality that he is her father. The third scaffold scene showed how Pearl who lived a life in isolation was capable of freeing herself from such life to a life of happiness when Dimmesdale revealed the

        Pearl primarily serves the role of silently urging Dimmesdale to overcome the pressures to conform to society, and to allow his guilty inner-self to emerge and receive retribution for his sins. She exists as a constant and living reminder and product of the sin Hester and Dimmesdale committed, and acknowledges the false innocence Dimmesdale tries so desperately to maintain. Her inquisition, "Why does he not wear [a scarlet letter] outside his bosom as thou dost?" (ch 16) to her mother concerning Dimmesdale is evidence of this. Pearl has no chance to conform to society because at birth she is regarded

In the stories of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the antagonist characters display parallel story lines through their searches for the enemy. Roger Chillingworth, the former husband of Hester Prynne and the antagonist of The Scarlet Letter, works against his wife in order to find her untold second lover. Frankenstein is a contrasting story in which an unnamed monster is the antagonist towards his human creator, Dr. Frankenstein. Yet despite quite different story lines, the two characters possess traits that exibit parallels between them. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth displays the startling passionate characteristics of an unwavering drive to seek out his foe, madness as his focus on his search takes over his entire being, and terrible anguish when his task is unexpectedly over, all of which are reflected in the daemon created at the hand of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein.