"But it was a remarkable attribute of this garb, and indeed, of the child's whole appearance, that it irresistibly and inevitably reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form: the scarlet letter endowed with life! The mother herself--as if the red ignominy were so deeply scorched into her brain that all her conceptions assumed its form--had carefully wrought out the similitude, lavishing many hours of morbid ingenuity to create an analogy between the object of her affection and the emblem of her guilt and torture. But, in truth, Pearl was the one as well as the other; and only in consequence of that identity had Hester contrived so perfectly to represent the scarlet letter in her appearance. " (Pg 93)
The passage above surely illustrates a fiery red image of Pearl, a young lass who not only represents her mother's shame and guilt but is sort of an lively version of the actual scarlet letter. Hester cleverly and probably subconsciously dressed Pearl in this scarlet manner as a reminder of her deeds for herself and others. She has accepted her fate as one of the symbols of sin in her community, in addition to Pearl maintaining a her status as a mixture of demon child and lovable young girl.
This passage demonstrates Hawthorne's unique ability to convey an incredible sense of passion through his choice in diction and sentence structure; hopefully, both can arouse such intense emotion in the readers. The diction he chose for this paragraph allows each of the words to just pop and express itself completely yet blend in with each other. The syntactical structure makes use of complex, periodic sentences that bleed imagery and allegorical ideas.
1. Describe the tone and mood Hawthorne implies through this passage.
2. Using your knowledge of the story, create your own idea of the attitude an adult Pearl would have towards her Hester, after being seen in this way from birth.
3. What does Hester want to accomplish by dressing Pearl in a bold scarlet gown?
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2) The adult Pearl could go either way in her feelings about her mother--if later on in the story Pearl is taken away to be raised under a Puritan household, then, of course, she is going to think that what her mother did was horrible. But if she continues to live with her, she'll feel sympathy and love her mother even more for who she is, because they both had no manly
ReplyDeletefigure in their life. The adult Pearl will not like men.
3) Hester wants to tell the world that Pearl is the product of her sin, and she is the scarlet letter itself! She is her joy and her torture, and this is symbolized in the color and quality of the garment.
Happy Birthday Linda :)
#1 okay the passage describes the garments that Pearl is where since she is the outcome of the "sin" that Hester made and I believe Hester is going crazy about the whole Scarlet Letter thing that is beginning to haunt her even in real life.
ReplyDelete#3 As what I said in the first question, Hester is really being haunted by the letter that it is becoming part of her life and reality, she is losing it due to her being depraved from social gatherings,etc with other people other than her daughter.
#2 Adult Pearl would have a fiery attitude. She would defend her mother from anyone who teases her or tells her something.Pearl would resemble a warrior because as demonstrated in chpt.8 Pearl defended her mother from the town kids.Pearl would not tolerate teasing.
ReplyDelete#3 By dressing Pearl in a bold scarlet gown she wants to demonstrate to the Puritan society that Pearl is the product of the "sin" she committed.Also, she wants to show others that everybody sins,icluding the "holiest" individuals.
btw Happy really late Birthday!8)
2. An adult Pearl will protect her mother. In chapter 8, some children were throwing mud balls at Hester and her, and she acted out of anger and scared them off. This means she is also tired of the Puritan society, and defends he mother. Pearl is just 3 years old during this time, this is a very small age and she is grateful for her mother. Therefore, if she was 20 years old she will defend her mother anyways, because she brought her to this world, being a “sin” or not.
ReplyDelete3. Hester dresses Pearl almost like the scarlet letter itself. She is not afraid to show her pride and dresses Pearl like the “sin”. However, it is also a reminder for Hester of the “sin” that she committed- a constant reminder.
:] es5meralda