Chapter Fifteen
Entry Twenty-Three
"But in good earnest now, mother dear, what does this scarlet letter mean?—and why dost thou wear it on thy bosom?—and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?”With asking her mother these questions, Pearl makes Hester see her daughter in a different light. Until now, she used to love Pearl in a difficult way. It was more a cold and vulnerable type of love (Hawthorne compares it to an April breeze), never able to grab and hold on to.
It must be very hard for Pearl growing up under this condition. Maybe it was mutual (so maybe Pearl didn't know how to love her mother, too) but I think this attitude towards her daughter made Pearl the way she is. I am sure Hester didn't have a bad intention (she just couldn't find any connection to a child embodying her sin), but she made Pearl feel like a person who doesn't belong to the earth. Her strangeness is due to how Hester treated her -> like a symbol, a thing, an abstract term. It is only naturally that Pearl developes in a not normal way.
Well done! Great examination.
ReplyDeleteThink about an April breeze in Boston. What might this feel like? Cold, yet full of energy - something to lift kites/birds high.