As life goes on, everyone will go through their own personal struggle dealing with a seemingly easy behavioral choice: good or evil. Many Christians believe that there are many rules humans must follow in order to live sin-free lives, with the Ten Commandments being some of the most important. The seventh commandment is referenced throughout the entirety of the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne; “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” In this novel, Hester Prynne has committed this particular act of evil, and is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” for the remainder of her life as punishment. Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates that while human nature is inherently evil, -- judging by the characters of Roger Chillingworth, Pearl Prynne,
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Her mother, Hester Prynne, gave her her name because she was conceived at a “great price” (81). Throughout the seven years the novel takes place, Pearl grows up to be the physical representation of the scarlet letter her mother is publically shamed for wearing. She behaves strangely, unlike the other puritan children. For example, the nice Puritan children played games in the streets, such as “going to church, scourging Quakers, or scaring one another with freaks of imaginative witchcraft” (86), but Pearl played other strange games by herself. One in particular that stands out, is how she would pretend that “the pine-trees, [were] figure[d] as Puritan elders; the ugliest weeds of the garden were their children, whom Pearl smote down and uprooted, most unmercifully” (87). She is turned from her ways as she watches her father, the Reverend Dimmesdale, die on the scaffold. Pearl experiences the sympathy she needed in order to experience raw human emotion, and to “grow up amid human joy and sorrow, [and] be a woman in it” (229). Pearl is no longer selfish and has grown to love her mother and father as she …show more content…
Nathaniel Hawthorne would have written an entirely different story, because the entire novel revolves around Hester, Pearl, and the scarlet letter in the community. He might not have written a novel at all! If Pearl had not been born under the sin the scarlet letter represents, she might not have behaved the way she did, and she would not have any of her selfish desires. All her terrible actions seemed as though they were influenced by the scarlet letter. If Dimmesdale would not have committed adultery or would have openly confessed to it, he would have shared equal blame with Hester Prynne, instead of leaving her to take it all. Ultimately, however, it falls into the hands of the selfish ones to overcome their desires and change the way they think of
Her mother, Hester Prynne, gave her her name because she was conceived at a “great price” (81). Throughout the seven years the novel takes place, Pearl grows up to be the physical representation of the scarlet letter her mother is publically shamed for wearing. She behaves strangely, unlike the other puritan children. For example, the nice Puritan children played games in the streets, such as “going to church, scourging Quakers, or scaring one another with freaks of imaginative witchcraft” (86), but Pearl played other strange games by herself. One in particular that stands out, is how she would pretend that “the pine-trees, [were] figure[d] as Puritan elders; the ugliest weeds of the garden were their children, whom Pearl smote down and uprooted, most unmercifully” (87). She is turned from her ways as she watches her father, the Reverend Dimmesdale, die on the scaffold. Pearl experiences the sympathy she needed in order to experience raw human emotion, and to “grow up amid human joy and sorrow, [and] be a woman in it” (229). Pearl is no longer selfish and has grown to love her mother and father as she …show more content…
Nathaniel Hawthorne would have written an entirely different story, because the entire novel revolves around Hester, Pearl, and the scarlet letter in the community. He might not have written a novel at all! If Pearl had not been born under the sin the scarlet letter represents, she might not have behaved the way she did, and she would not have any of her selfish desires. All her terrible actions seemed as though they were influenced by the scarlet letter. If Dimmesdale would not have committed adultery or would have openly confessed to it, he would have shared equal blame with Hester Prynne, instead of leaving her to take it all. Ultimately, however, it falls into the hands of the selfish ones to overcome their desires and change the way they think of