Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl serves as the &8220apple of promised land. She is plucked from the hands of God in paradise and move to the mortal world as a baby &8220to make out its the scarlet letter&8217s hidden import (155), causing Prynne and Dimmesdale to face their consequences. Pearl functions in the story on three levels as a real child, as a continuing symbol of Prynne and Dimmesdale&8217s adultery, and as an allegorical figure sent to torment the sinners and direct their actions. Only Dimmesdale can &8220ripen her into the woman she needs to become. Otherwise she will continually serve as a representation of their mistake.Pearl is the ruddiness bush that is located outside of the prison door. Although, she brings happiness to Prynne, Pearl is covered with &8220thorns. When Mr. Wilson asks Pearl the question of who made her, Pearl responds &8220that she had not been made at all, entirely had been plucked by her m another(prenominal) off the bush o f wild roses, that grew by the prison-door (95). She is a good child, an &8220infant&8230worthy to have been brought forth in Eden worthy to have been left there, to be the plaything of the angels (75), but she is a &8220born outcast of the infantile world&8230an imp of evil, emblem and product of sin (79). Her carnal features did not show she is different she has perfect arms and legs and has a native grace with innocent dishful. She is magnificent when she is displayed in her exquisite robes as her natural beauty shown through such that there was a circle of radiance around her. However, emotionally something is wrong with Pearl. If other children gather around her, she would feel the dislike from the other children, and would snatch up stones to throw at them, while screaming. In the &8220garden of the Puritan society, Pearl is the rose bush, while &8220the ugliest weeds of the garden were their Puritans&8217 children, whom Pearl smote down and uprooted, almost unmercifully (8 0). Prynne, the adulterous mother, feels the guilt of bringing Pearl into the world and is reluctant to discipline the child, because Pearl is Prynne&8217s &8220sole treasure, whom she had bought so dear, and who was all her world (78).Pearl also represents the brisk embodiment of the scarlet letter embroidered on Prynne&8217s clothing. She &8220was the scarlet letter in another form the scarlet letter endowed with life (86).