Ambiguity In Scarlet Letter
Ambiguity and The Scarlet Letter go better together than two people that have been happily married for 75 years. There is no exemption in Hawthorne's exquisite symbolism of one of his main characters, Pearl. The Scarlet Letter A, worn by Hester Prynne, was a punishment for the immoral sin of adultery she had committed. Following Hester's act of adultery, she became pregnant with a baby girl whom she named Pearl. From the first moment that we are introduced to Pearl in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, we get the sense that there is something strange and unnatural about her. Pearl acts very differently than the other people in Boston in that she seems to be much more vibrant than the others. We see this displayed in various different forms like her dress, her mood swings, her sometimes mischievous behavior, and her constant liveliness. Throughout the novel, Pearl is used by Hawthorne to symbolize many different elements, and the ambiguity come together for one significant meaning. A critic of Hawthorne states, "when depth and ambiguity are much admired in writing, Hawthorne has continued to offer enough complexity and mystery to hold a wide variety of readers."(Davidson, 361) Pearl was not accepted by virtually anyon
Hawthorne uses Pearl as a dynamic character; she is a constant reminder to Hester of her sin. In the one moment that Hester attempts to escape her sin, Pearl refuses to acknowledge her until she returns to the shameful mother that she has always known. Pearl is wild along with passionate. She was brought into the world at the expense of her mother's public condemnation. She did absolutely nothing to be treated how she was treated, all Pearl did was be born. Pearl was brought into the world at a great cost. Though her symbolizing innocence and the treasure of youth, she is also used to symbolize a contrasting element. Well, Hawthorne gives the reader a chance to adjudge their own opinion on what Pearl is really standing for. Pearl, in the same idea of being the symbol of innocence, is the symbol of the treasure of youth. Since her mother symbolized passion through the rosebush, the child is thus comparable to the blossoms on the rosebush. " (Hawthorne, 188) Nature recognizes in Pearl, a wildness. On the rare occasion that the children would show interest in Pearl, she would "grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling at them. Pearl is innocent and is her mother's only treasure and companion.
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