“Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” –Matthew 13: 45-46
Pearl is alternately called an imp (evil) and an elf (good), a prophet (of god) and a magician (user of black magic). She has an incredible insight and power to see the truth, but one is never quite sure where her power comes from. Is it the result of her sinful conception and evil, or is it a blessing from God? What is the symbolic significance of Pearl in the narrative? How does she complicate the theme of good vs. evil?
The character of Pearl is interesting because she knows no boundaries. She has the innocence of a child, but the reader begins to notice se isnt to innocent after all
ReplyDeletePearl represents all the different and opposing facets of a sin. She shows that good and bad things can result from a sin. Pearl asks many questions as if she is innocent and ignorant, but one would think that she knows all about the different aspects of a sin and its consequences. Pearl basically symbolizes sin.
ReplyDeleteThis is a blessing from God. She's practically the main reason that Hester keeps living. Instead of being a symbol for sin or darkness, she's the light of the book.
ReplyDeleteIf one is taking into account the Puritan faith, Pearl's abilities are a blessing from God. The minister believes that even Chillingsworth is a blessing so clearly Pearl is.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the reason that Pearl alternates between good and evil is the context and how the characters are interpreting her actions. Its like how the annoying things you do as a child are considered cute, but any adult who fantasizes about riding unicorns that shoot rainbows could be considered insane.
ReplyDelete@Brightyellow
ReplyDeleteya that maybe so, but you can't deny that she still is a symbol for sin as well
@ H3llo People
ReplyDeleteIt's not as much as she herself consciously alternates between good and evil as it is as how Hester, with her perception is perceiving Pearl's actions as actions done consciously.
Pearl is a blessing from God. She is the only reason that Hester decides to live instead of kill herself. Pearl is a symbol of sin but also of the good outcome that can come from sinning. Pearl's name alone has a lot of significance when referenced with the bible but in society she is labeled as an evil little elf child.
ReplyDeletePearl herslf is good vs. evil because of the fact that she was a conception of evil but oddly enough that conception makes her a blessing to God even if she's seen as evil to the community. Pearl is a symbol of Hester and through much of the book it seems like Hester is putting the impression of evil on her daughter because of the way she was concieved. It seems like Pearl represents Hesters sin differently to her than to the rest of the community because when she looks at Pearl she is reminded of what she had done and that she was the cause of her having to wear the scarlet letter A.
ReplyDeleteYes, she is a symbol for both because she was the result of Hesters adultery but she also represents good because as Brightyellow said, she is the light of the book.
ReplyDeletePearl reminds Hester of her previous actions, although it does seem that she symoblizes sin, Pearl symbolizes the good that can be made out of mistakes. Like making a negative siutaion into a positive one.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Pearl can be seen as the result of Hester's sin, she is also a sort of blessing. I agree with Brightyellow23 that she is the main reason that Hester keeps living, because she seems to teach Hester some lessons throughout the years. Pearl seems to give Hester ideas that change her thoughts about sin. However, she is also a result of evil because there is something about her that is not the innocence of a child. It's almost like she knows some things in a deeper level than everyone else.
ReplyDeletePearl seems to be good and evil in one. She is a conflict but at the same time, this conflict comes naturally to her. She is a symbol of the consequences of sin but also of how good can come from bad situations. The society sees her as the imbodiment of sin because of her mysterious parentage but I think that Hawthorne uses her as a symbol for purity and goodness. She is wild and unique but she is not bad.
ReplyDeleteShe is a symbol of sin but only at the beginning of the book when Hester cares so deeply about what the town thinks. At the end of the book she doesn't feel any guilt because she thinks that she has paid the price for her sin. Even before Hester talks about killing herself and how she doesn't because she could never leave Pearl alone. So Pearl is keeping her from committing another sin even though she came from sin. Pearl then becomes a symbol of light since she's the only one in the town that sees the truth and has all the insight. Everyone else in the town is lying to themselves because they committ sins as well and judge Hester so harshly.
ReplyDeleteI think that Pearl is not biased towards one way or another, but rather a way to interpret the "truth". She sees things as how they should be, which may not always be the way how others see them. This makes Pearl the hardest character to understand in the book. I think all of you are too stuck on the one way or another theory, and acknowledge that she's both.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that Pearl is both good and bad to Hester or good to some characters and bad to others?
ReplyDelete@(name too long) you forgot to put an apostrophe after Hester.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Pearl seems strange and evil in the beginning because Hester feels guilty and is projecting her despair onto Pearl. Hester tries to find something wrong with the child because she does not believe that the product of a sin could be normal in anyway. Her obsession eventually influences how she deals with Pearl and becomes the reality.
Even though young, I feel like Pearl is a very complex character. She seems very insightful for her age and she is extremely curious compared to the other children in her society. She acts as a symbol of sin which is how she can be perceived as evil. But Pearl also represents light because helped her mother find reason in life.
ReplyDeleteHellen Keller and my self(MYSTIC PRINCESS 231) are making the same point. Pearl isnt a good or bad character, she sees things for how they are, she sees the truth regardless of circumstance
ReplyDeleteMYSTIC PRINCESS 231
I agree with Helen Keller, that Pearl sees things in a different way than everyone else. It's hard for the reader to interpret her actions. In fact I think it's hard for the characters to interpret her actions either.
ReplyDeleteDr4g0n514y3r_0.123792^8_slayer_commander you are mising the point, Pearl is a neutral character.
ReplyDeleteHester believes that Pearl is sent from Heaven because she says "God gave me this child" on page 116. However, Pearl says that she "has no Heavenly Father." chapter 6. I wonder if she says this because she does not like the church. After all she does protect her mother a lot, and this may be one of the ways she tries to stand up for Hester. I think that Pearl is not a devil child but sent to protect Hester.
ReplyDeletecassiethebluenosedreindog its not that she sees things differently, its that she sees the truth of things.
ReplyDeleteMYSTIC PRINCESS 231 and I have got this down, but others seem to not get that he intentional makes a child, usually very easy characters in books, the most complex one in this story. To Philosoraptor, it doesn't matter how others viewed her, but what she stood for in "god's" eyes. Interpreting the "truth" is up for you to decide
ReplyDeleteI agree with hello people, at first Hester only cares for Pearl because she's "flesh and blood." However, as the novel progresses, I think Hester starts to love Pearl.
ReplyDeleteDr4g0n514y3r_0.123792^8_slayer_commander your not making a relevant point. High five to Helen Keller
ReplyDeletePearl is of like Jack-Jack in The Incredibles. Upon being kidnapped, Jack-Jack, like Pearl transforms into some crazy thing, like a mini devil with sharp teeth. While Pearl never undergoes a physical transformation, she is very moody. Hester learns very early on that her daughter has a mind of her own,
ReplyDeletePearl is a symbol for a lot of things, she is little girl, but it seems that she knows more than anyone else. Her behavior is unexpected and tells a lot about other characters.
ReplyDelete@H3llo People: I do not see the correlation between Pearls actiobns and adults wanting to ride unicorns... Could you enlighten us your reasoning behind this comparison?
ReplyDeletePeal also doesn't judge her mother for her sins. She loves her mother no less because of them. Since she's too young to really understand sins, he mother is almost like God in her eyes. She can tell that Dimmesdale also has something to do with both of them when Hester asks her why she thinks she has to wear the scarlet letter and Pearl replies, " It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his hear!" (pg186)
ReplyDelete@Mystic Princess 231
ReplyDeleteThat's what I meant to say. She sees what is actually, "truly" going on, but no one else seems to understand it.
cassiethebluenosedreindog ok yes now you make sense, sorry i misunderstood you. That does seem to be what Hawthorne wants us to think
ReplyDeletePearl symbolizes the crime that Hester and Dimmesdale committed; the product of their sin. Pearl shows that everyone has good and evil in them, she just happens to show them both in extremes. She has powerful insight because she is so pure and guileless; she doesn’t have the same prejudices blocking her view that others might have. She represents how no one person is all good or all evil, everyone has a bit of both but perhaps in different measures. Not even Dimmesdale whom all the towns people think is perfect and holly is completely pure or without sin. Not even Chilligworth, who is determined to take enjoyment from Dimmesdale’s suffering is completely evil; he originally started out trying to be a caring husband. Pearl shows how people can have both good and evil warring within themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe very nature of Pearl is interpreted by different people, which explains the opposing views of good and evil. Whether an imp or not, the argument is emphasized through her mother's insecurity of the nature of her child.
ReplyDeleteThe monther's insecurity of the child results from the child's nature's opposition to what Prynne considers a sin. She believes he sin is utterly shameful, and has difficulty realizing the good of it that is represented by the free-spirited Pearl.
ReplyDeleteHawthorn is saying that the Puritans were all that pure; Hester wasn’t the only person to cheat, she was just the only one who got caught. He is showing how they were very strict on the laws of having sex outside wedlock. In some ways he reinforces the morals of the Puritan society by showing how miserable they both were after cheating and all the suffering that it caused. At the end however I feel like the message is that because they had been brought up this way most of their suffering was unnecessary and self (or society) imposed. He is blaming the fact that this affair turned out as bad as it did to the Puritan society and their overly strict teachings and punishments not to the fact that they were together in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with gahilovebeingpurple because what people think about Pearl depends on the context on which they read it in. Different people can make different meaning out of Pearl regarding whether she is good or evil.
ReplyDeleteWell obviously...
ReplyDeletePearl is the offspring of Dimemsdale and Hester. Thus she is a mix of the two. She may at some points of the book serve as a distraction that Dimmesdale is Pearl's good half, and Hester is the bad half, but this is obviously not so. Pearl blurs these lines of good and evil, and completely erases them once you see what her values are. She values Truth. Even when she is an imp, her actions are justifiable in that they help others around Pearl, and help them focus on that Truth.
Mystic Princess 231 I'd high five you back, but i'm blind. Thanks. Can you even look at this as the story of adam and eve? Like they were fine until the devil (chillingsworth) came along and ruined the whole human race?
ReplyDeleteI agree with turquoise93, Pearl is an outward expression of the good and evil in all people. Some people choose to only show either good or evil, Pearl is different because she shows both in equal measure.
ReplyDelete