All children bless their parents in their own unique way. Hester’s only daughter Pearl continues as a true blessing in Hester’s life. Hester the wearer of the Scarlet letter is punished for committing adultery with the minister. The setting in the book takes place in the 1600s Boston in a Puritan society so the people remain extremely harsh and treat her like a disgrace to the town. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, portrays Pearl as a blessing to Hester’s life because Hester only has her daughter as a companion, her only reason to live, and saves her from a life of darkness.
Hester has only her daughter Pearl as her only companion because in the start of the story they show Hester’s loneliness and her true depression with her life and only as a baby she still brings happiness and joy to Hester. When the townspeople yell nasty comments or even charities deny her service as a seamstress because of her scarlet letter, Pearl always supports Hester and loves her dearly. In the novel for example “Measured by the prisoner's experience, however, it might reckoned a journey of some length; for, haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung in the street for them all to spurn and trample upon. (Hawthorne 17). They show how mistreated and disrespectful the townspeople treat Hester and Pearl. The charities or people in need will not even accept her donations because of the scarlet letter. Only Pearl treats Hester truly kind and truly loves her.
Hester’s one reason to stay alive and live her life is her daughter. Hester almost has had Pearl taken away from her by the magistrates because they saw her as an unfit mother, Hester begs and said they will have to kill her until they took Pearl from her. Hester already lost her husband and the man she truly loves, her daughter is her only form of happiness. She says “God gave me the child! He gave her, in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness” (Hawthorne 101). They look at Pearl as a demon or elfish child and as the living version of the Scarlet letter because of her mother and that she’s full of evil. Hester truly expresses how much she would sacrifice for her daughter. It shows the legitimacy of Hester’s love for her only daughter.
Pearl keeps Hester away from a life of darkness and sorrow. Hester was forsaken after she believed her husband passed away and fell in love with Dimmesdale, she would have lived a troubled lonely existence without Pearl being there to bring cheer in her mother's life. Hester says 'This child hath come from the hand of the almighty, to work in many ways upon her heart. It was meant for a blessing, for the one blessing of her life! It was meant, doubtless, for a retribution too, a torture to be felt at many an unthought of moment; a pang, as sting, an ever-recurring agony in the midst of a troubled joy' (Hawthorne 105). This quote shows the appreciation and true significance of what Pearl means to Hester. Pearl is Hester’s only family and she would do anything for her daughter, Pearl gives Hester a new meaning to life. When Hester sees Pearl full of light and happiness it makes her peaceful. She opens Hester’s eyes to a better liveliness and a new positive way to look at life.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, portrays Pearl as a blessing to Hester’s world because Hester only has her daughter as a friend, her only reason to live or to be happy, and saves her from a life of dark sorrow. Pearl remains the light and joy that Hester needs to survive her miserable life. Her daughter can be a wild child and hard to handle but her existence means more than anything to Hester. Pearl opens the door of hope for her mother to enjoy her life and have a chance to live a blissful and fulfilled life.
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The Scarlet Letter: the Blessing of Pearl.
(2022, Jun 29). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/the-scarlet-letter-the-blessing-of-pearl/
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2022 Jun 29 [cited 2024 Dec 22].
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