Pearl is a unique young child who needs a certain amount of attention, but can anyone provide her with what she needs? In The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, Pearl deals with almost being taken away from her mother Hester, this then leads to the question who should truly be taking care of Pearl? Although Hester is her mother it seems to others that she is not teaching her the proper Puritan ways. Meanwhile there are also two men named Dimmesdale and Chillingworth that are also in the race to raise Pearl because they both have characteristics of someone who could raise Pearl the right Puritan way or so they say? Although Hester isn’t teaching Pearl the Puritan way she is teaching her certain things in life that she truly
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She is the best guardian for Pearl because Pearl is the only thing she has to live for. She proves this theory multiple times, for example, “ Ye shall not take her! I will die first” ( Hawthorne 103 ). This shows how much she truly loves Pearl because she doesn’t want to live without her. This also shows how without Pearl in her life she has nothing, due to her previous actions if it were not for Pearl she probably would not be alive. This also shows pathos, because she is willing to die for her child which provokes strong emotion. However, even though Hester is her mother she has not had the best past and it has hurt both her and Pearl’s future. For example “observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring; such as, ever since old Catholic times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their mother’s sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose” ( Hawthorne 90). This shows how because of Hester’s past Pearl is destined to have a miserable life. This also shows how Pearl can never be her true self, she will always be judged by her mother’s faults and not her own. Another example is “ Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants” ( Hawthorne 85). This shows she doesn’t get to be a regular kid and hang out with others which causes her to be an outcast. It also shows how the …show more content…
He only wants revenge on Dimmesdale and he shows that multiple times. For example, “ Let him live! Let him hide himself in outward honor, if he may! Not the less he shall be mine” ( Hawthorne 71)! This shows how he only wants to get revenge on his wife's adulter. Another example is “ Thou hast escaped me! He repeated more than once. Thou hast escaped me” ( Hawthorne 228)! This also shows how he only wants revenge, because once Dimmesdale dies his whole plan of revenge is ruined because all he wanted was to hurt him. He does not really care about Pearl, he just wants to hurt others to replace the pain he felt when he found out about his wife’s affair. He should not take care of Pearl because he does not truly love or want her, he just wants revenge on those who have hurt him by possibly trying to hurt them even harder.
In conclusion, even though Dimmesdale and Chillingworth both had characteristics of a good person they both had a lot of faults that were not healthy for Pearl. Hester is not perfect either but Hester is all Pearl has ever had and she has adapted to her mother. Trying to take pearl away from the only person she’s ever had would be really hard for both Hester and Pearl. No matter who Pearl was placed she would never forget the lessons her mother taught her and she would never forget who Hester was because a
She is the best guardian for Pearl because Pearl is the only thing she has to live for. She proves this theory multiple times, for example, “ Ye shall not take her! I will die first” ( Hawthorne 103 ). This shows how much she truly loves Pearl because she doesn’t want to live without her. This also shows how without Pearl in her life she has nothing, due to her previous actions if it were not for Pearl she probably would not be alive. This also shows pathos, because she is willing to die for her child which provokes strong emotion. However, even though Hester is her mother she has not had the best past and it has hurt both her and Pearl’s future. For example “observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring; such as, ever since old Catholic times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their mother’s sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose” ( Hawthorne 90). This shows how because of Hester’s past Pearl is destined to have a miserable life. This also shows how Pearl can never be her true self, she will always be judged by her mother’s faults and not her own. Another example is “ Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants” ( Hawthorne 85). This shows she doesn’t get to be a regular kid and hang out with others which causes her to be an outcast. It also shows how the …show more content…
He only wants revenge on Dimmesdale and he shows that multiple times. For example, “ Let him live! Let him hide himself in outward honor, if he may! Not the less he shall be mine” ( Hawthorne 71)! This shows how he only wants to get revenge on his wife's adulter. Another example is “ Thou hast escaped me! He repeated more than once. Thou hast escaped me” ( Hawthorne 228)! This also shows how he only wants revenge, because once Dimmesdale dies his whole plan of revenge is ruined because all he wanted was to hurt him. He does not really care about Pearl, he just wants to hurt others to replace the pain he felt when he found out about his wife’s affair. He should not take care of Pearl because he does not truly love or want her, he just wants revenge on those who have hurt him by possibly trying to hurt them even harder.
In conclusion, even though Dimmesdale and Chillingworth both had characteristics of a good person they both had a lot of faults that were not healthy for Pearl. Hester is not perfect either but Hester is all Pearl has ever had and she has adapted to her mother. Trying to take pearl away from the only person she’s ever had would be really hard for both Hester and Pearl. No matter who Pearl was placed she would never forget the lessons her mother taught her and she would never forget who Hester was because a