Likewise, Pearl also acts as the motivation for Reverend Dimmesdale's public confession of being her father. Initially, Pearl would question Dimmesdale's consistently on his motives, and when, and if, he would ever accept Pearl and her mother. Pearl would interrogate him with questions such as, “Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide?”(Hathorne 134) and “Doth he love us?”(Hawthorne 185). The questions occurred periodically throughout the work making Dimmesdale carry them in his mind without forgetting. Soon enough, they started to burn inside him and make Dimmesdale question himself. Pearl wanted adequate answers and Dimmesdale knew that one day he would need to provide them. Furthermore, Dimmesdale wanted to please
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While he wanted to show her affection, Pearl did not want to provide the same amount of tenderness at the moment. Hoping to improve the quality of sympathy to him, Dimmesdale kissed Pearl on her forehead. In response, “ … Pearl broke away from her mother, and, running to the brook, stooped over it, and bathed her forehead, until the unwelcome kiss was quite washed off …”(Hawthorne 185-186). The kiss caused the opposite reaction Dimmesdale was hoping for. A rejected action of emotion has a long lasting effect on a person. The dismissal stays in their mind, seeking to receive the emotion back. For Dimmesdale, the only way he was going to obtain true affection from Pearl was to follow in her requests and tell the townspeople he was her father. While decaying on the scaffold after Dimmesdale professed his fatherhood, he summoned Pearl over to him. He pleaded with her saying, “ … [D]ear little Pearl, wilt thou kiss me now?”(Hawthorne 222). Pearl freely kissed him on the lips and she began to cry, feeling sympathy for the minister. He succeeded in gaining her trust and love by being true to his family, himself, and the town. Dimmesdale’s need for love and acceptance from his sole child came from his public confession. Therefore, Pearl is the motivation for
While he wanted to show her affection, Pearl did not want to provide the same amount of tenderness at the moment. Hoping to improve the quality of sympathy to him, Dimmesdale kissed Pearl on her forehead. In response, “ … Pearl broke away from her mother, and, running to the brook, stooped over it, and bathed her forehead, until the unwelcome kiss was quite washed off …”(Hawthorne 185-186). The kiss caused the opposite reaction Dimmesdale was hoping for. A rejected action of emotion has a long lasting effect on a person. The dismissal stays in their mind, seeking to receive the emotion back. For Dimmesdale, the only way he was going to obtain true affection from Pearl was to follow in her requests and tell the townspeople he was her father. While decaying on the scaffold after Dimmesdale professed his fatherhood, he summoned Pearl over to him. He pleaded with her saying, “ … [D]ear little Pearl, wilt thou kiss me now?”(Hawthorne 222). Pearl freely kissed him on the lips and she began to cry, feeling sympathy for the minister. He succeeded in gaining her trust and love by being true to his family, himself, and the town. Dimmesdale’s need for love and acceptance from his sole child came from his public confession. Therefore, Pearl is the motivation for