"Hester caught hold of Pearl, and drew her forcibly into her arms, confronting the old puritan magistrate with almost a fierce expression. Alone in the world, cast off by it, and with this sole treasure to keep her heart alive, she felt like she possessed indefeasible rights against the world, and was ready to defend them to the death.
'God gave me the child!' cried she. 'He gave her in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness!- She is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!'
'My poor woman,' said the not unkind old minister, 'the child shall be well cared for!-Far better than thou canst do it.'
'God gave her into my keeping,' repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shriek. 'I will not giver her up!'- And here, by a 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.- 'Speak thou for me!' cried she. 'Thou wast my pastor, and hadst charge of my soul, and knowest me better than these men can. I will not lose the child! Speak for me! Thou knowest- for thou has sympathies which these men lack!- Thou knowest what is in my heart, and what are a mother's rights, and how much the stronger they are, when the mother has her child and the scarlet letter! Look thou to it! I will not lose the child! Look to it!'"
Hester has learned from her sins because of Pearl and she wants to do right by her child. She wants to raise her in the way that she should go. This passage shows that Hester is still human capable of loving as is her daughter. They have not been completely taken over by their sin, and they keep each other sane. this passage has a parallel structure when it states, "I will not lose the child!". Pearl is all Hester has left besides the scarlet letter, (her sin and the mark she has to wear) and the secrets that she holds.
1) What does Hester mean when she calls Pearl the scarlet letter?
2) What is the importance otf the citations/quotes used in the passage that I extracted?
3) Why doesn't Hester just establish a life somewhere else where she is not know and doesn't have to bear the shame of the scarlet letter?
Hester means that Pearl is a constant reflection of her deed just as the scarlet letter is. Though Pearl brings her great joy, she serves as a constant reminder to Hester what she did wrong. Pearl is both a negative and positive consequence of the action. Hester doesn't move away because she feels a connection to the society. It is the location of an event that greatly altered her life and instead of running away from her problems as most people do, she feels it will serve a much better purpose to deal with it head on.
ReplyDeleteHester won't just go and establish a life somewhere else because she knows of the sin she committed and desires for some of that dignity and worth she lost since the whole situation. She knows that running away won't help with anything and in order to purify her soul, she needs to face her punishments. She not only wants to show this desire to change the way the rest of society sees her, but mainly how she sees herself. She feels extremely guilty and ashamed but is willing to change and take back the things she had lost.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hester calls Pearl the scarlet letter she means that just like the scarlet letter will always be there to remind her of her sin, Pearl will always be there as a reminder as well. It is her punishments that she has to live with everyday, yet Hester still shows that dignity of hers with the way she loves and cares for Pearl and the way in which she embellished the "A" on her clothing.
When Hester calls Pearl the scarlet letter she is referring to the act of her recieving the Scarlet letter and getting Pearl out of it. Had Pearl not been made most wouldn't know about her act of sin. The Scarlet letter was a way of publisizing her act but Pearl was the real source of pain which she cherished everyday. There could be many reasons for Hester to stay, but I believe that she wants to stay because that is the place that she knows. It would be a great risk to leave the town and start somewhere else, she could easily face the same chastisement from the towns people.
ReplyDelete