Should Hester Lose Custody Of Her Child?

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,

     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,

Numerous of people think Hester Prynne shouldn’t keep Pearl. Hester should be allow to keep Pearl, because Pearl isn’t use to anyone else; Pearl is Hester’s child; and Hester can teach Pearl from her sins.

Hester still has good morals, she wants her child to follow the Puritan religion. I imagine that something must have happened to Hester in the past with her father that she does not want her child to have to deal with, or it would be more bothersome for the father of the child to be involved with her child’s life.

Some of the blame for the trauma in Pearl’s life lies squarely with her mother, Hester Prynne.

From the beginning, we see that Hester Prynne is a young and beautiful woman who has brought a child into the world with an unknown father. She is punished by Puritan society by wearing the scarlet letter A on the bosom of her dress and standing on the scaffold for three hours. The scaffold is a painful task to bear; the townspeople gathered around to gossip and stare at Hester and her newborn child, whom she suitably named Pearl, named because of her extreme value to her mother. Her subjection to the crowd of

Hester accounted for pearl’s character by “recalling what she herself had been, during that momentous period while pearl was imbibing her soul from the spiritual world, and her bodily frame from its material of earth.”

Chapter 8, The Elf-Child and the Minister, discusses the possible cease of Pearl being raised under Hester Prynne. The government doesn’t think she’s adequate to be raising a child. Personally, I believe Hester is one of the best people to raise Pearl. I also agree with the decision of Wilson and Bellingham, influenced by Dimmesdale, letting Hester keep Pearl.

Hester Prynne is the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. She was a beautiful woman who, because of her adultery, experienced persecution and was ostracized by everyone in her town. Her shame and guilt gave her an understanding of sin and redemption. She serves as an example of someone who is rejected by society and, because of it, grows in both strength and wisdom. Hester’s sin overshadowed her beauty and talent, but her humble and generous deeds gained her respect over many years.

Hester Prynne is not a good mother, and that is very emphasized throughout the first eight chapters of The Scarlet Letter. Hester’s mother died when she was growing up, which supports the fact that she didn’t have a maternal figure to look up to or learn from. Second, her daughter was conceived

Pearls are made in the darkness of a clam. Pearl was born in prison, into darkness. Hester paid the ultimate price of having pearl. Pearl is the result of the sin, adultery, that Hester and Dimmesdale committed. Hawthorne explains, “ Hester prynne- yes, at herself- who stood on the scaffold of the pillary, an infant in her arms…” ( Hawthorne 58) . This quote shows that Pearl isn’t an ordinary baby. Pearl is a result of sin and is a constant reminder of that. Hester can not get rid of Pearl, she going to spend the rest of her life with her life with Pearl and the guilt of how she got here is always there. As the story goes on, Pearl grows up and she knows who her father is. The town notices that Pearl was a little off. One time a group of kids was making fun of her and she started screaming and throwing rocks at the kids. Dimmesdale exclaims, “not then,Pearl” said the minister “but another time!” (Hawthorne 153). This proves Pearl knows Dimmesdale is her father and she asks him when he is going to claim her. Pearl is a very smart kid, nobody told her who her father is, she just knew. Dimmesdale feels guilty for not standing on the scaffold when hester did. Pearl is a constant reminder to him of the sin he committed. Pearl is a symbol of guilt not only towards Hester but dimmesdale,

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 raises Pearl all by herself. Yes, without a father and no one else's help Hester cares and provides for Pearl all by herself. This signifies that Pearl doesn't need her baby daddy and no child support she takes all responsibilities like a rightful woman would do. She, knows that she already looks bad because she committed adultery and has the letter on her and that's

Pearl is often accused of being a witch child, but Hester tries her best not to believe it. Hester does her best to be there for her daughter, even when she was faced with her own burdens. Even though she’s been through so much in her, Hester gives out all her love whenever she can. That proves that she’s become a pure and loyal person.

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