Chapters 5-8

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 5 - Hester at Her Needle

Hester is released from prison at the beginning of chapter five and immediately finds that everyday life is even more difficult to endure than her ordeal on the platform before the assembled crowds. Her hope of a brighter future gone “she could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief” (Hawthorne 73). Shesettles into a small hut like house on the outskirts of the town, a place where suspicions and fears immediately collect. This is an amazing choice because she does not choose to move away from the place thatjudges her so strongly, but rather stays where everyone in the area knows her sin and judges her every day. Hester is discovered by the reader to have a talent for sewing that few others posses. Her work becomes high in demand, from ornamental gloves for government officials to simple clothing for the suffering poor. Her work allowed her to live without material want, but she dresses herself with simple clothing despite having enough money and skill to wear fabulously adorned clothes, leaving the only ornament on her person the branding scarlet letter. Instead she adorns Pearl in wondrous attire that would out shine most babes, but not Pearl. Pearl’s beauty is only enhanced by her lavish clothing.

Chapter 6 - Pearl

Pearl is introduced more fully in this chapter. It is learned that her name has no connection to any aspect of her character or appearance, but rather to the great cost at which she came into the world. Pearl is Hester’s sole source of comfort in an otherwise hostile world, and she was “purchasedwith all she [Hester] had,” as any dignity and social standing Hester had are replaced by scorn and disgust in the eyes of society to produce Pearl (Hawthorne 81). Pearl is an almost flawless child. She has no physical defects and moves with unusual grace and dexterity, and is said to be fit to have been left in Eden with the angels. Pearl has a vivid passion that defines her entire being. She embodies every kind of child, but always with this passion, and if she were to lose this passion she would cease to be herself. Hester is soft with her child. She cannot abide the idea of being too harsh with Pearl and so is unable to control Pearl’s behavior because of Pearl’s passion. Pearl is not only Hester’s only source of pleasure, but also her greatest source of torment. Pearl often looks at her mother in a way that spoke to something other in the child. Pearl’s often erratic behavior and open hatred towards the other children, all of who torment her, combined with her otherworldly gaze sets Hester to worrying about Pearl and whence she really came.

Chapter 7 - The Governor's Hall

Hester goes one day to the house of Governor Bellingham to deliver a pair of her acclaimed ornate gloves. Hester, as she always does, brings Pearl with her on her trip to the Governor’s house. Pearl is a matter of public discussion at this point, as some public leaders think that it would be best to separate mother and child, Governor Bellingham chief among them. With this weight on her heart Hester goes to the Governor’s house with the dual purpose of delivering the gloves and of convincing him to let Pearl remain with her. Pearl is wearing a brilliant scarlet dress with golden embroidery, a mirror of the scarlet A on Hester’s own breast. Along the way a group of children decides to harass the mother and child, but before they could begin to fling mud Pearl chases them away in a rage. When the two arrive at the house Pearl is captivated by the glittering light reflected by the shards of glass that are embedded in the walls of the house, and later by the gleaming armour sitting in the Governor’s home that reflects the image of Hester in such a way that the scarlet A appears to be the largest part of her. As Pearl becomes enthralled by a rosebud to the point of screaming the Governor and a few other persons.

Chapter 8 -The Elf Child and the Minister

Governor Bellingham, John Wilson, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth approach the house from the garden at the beginning of the chapter. When they arrive at the house they first only see Pearl, as she is in the sunlight and Hester is in the shadows behind, and they comment on Pearl’s dress and how incredibly red it is. When Hester is noticed the Governor immediately brings up the subject of taking away Pearl and his way of seeing it which is that the people in charge of the settlement would be making a grave mistake “by trusting an immortal soul, such as there is in yonder child, to the guidance of one who has fallen, amid the pitfalls of this world” (Hawthorne 101). Hester is called upon to defend herself to the men there and she does so with a desperate passion, pleading that she can teach the child through her own failings. But Bellingham is unsure of her answer and wants Wilson to examine Pearl. When Wilson tries to bring Pearl to him she runs away and refuses to answer him, and when she finally does answer his question of where she came from she told him that she had been plucked from the rose bush outside of the prison house where Hester had been punished, an answer that Pearl knows is incorrect. The men take it as an honest answer, however, and change their minds to the opinion that Pearl must be taken away. Hester, deeply distressed by this, pleads with the young pastor Dimmesdale to show the other men that taking Pearl would be a grave mistake indeed. Dimmesdale manages to produce a stirring and compelling argument for Hester keeping Pearl, namely that Pearl is Hester’s only blessing and at the same time Hester’s worst punishment. He also brings up the idea of a sacred bond between mother and child and that to break that bond would be to go against God himself. In the end of the chapter Hester and Pearl are still together, but Hester says to Mistress Hibbins that had Pearl been taken away she would have joined Hibbins in an oath to the Black Man.

Character Development

Pearl is seen growing from a helpless baby to an independent minded child who understands the injustice of her situation. As Pearl grows, so does her significance to Hester’s own plight and feelings toward the society she lives in. When Pearl was a newborn cradled in the arms of her mother before the gaze of the town Pearl is helpless to protect herself, she is only safe in the arms of her mother, and those arms sometimes hold too tightly. Hester’s position in Puritan society is the same as Pearl’s position. Hester needs the society to survive, but when she makes a mistake, committing adultery, the arms of that society that seek to protect squeeze so hard that it hurts her, making her an outcast and ridiculing her. As Pearl lives in their new home with Hester Hester sees a terrible transformation when looking into Pearl’s eyes, a transformation taking place in Hester in the minds of society, turning her into a monster, an inhuman demon to be feared and avoided. This is seen in the candid behavior of the children. The children of Boston tread lightly around Hester’s house and spread rumors of fear and superstition about Hester. As Pearl grows she grows separated from the other children, she “was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right amongst the christened infants” (Hawthorne 85). Pearl feels the injustice of her situation and lashes out in anger in her imagination, uprooting flowers she imagines to be the children of Boston, and making a mockery of the oldest in the society by talking to gnarled old trees in ridiculous voices. Pearl’s outward actions echo exactly Hester’s feelings toward society and the social exile she has been forced to endure, but Hester keeps her feelings hidden from society within herself. Pearl first noticed not Hester’s face, but instead the scarlet letter upon her chest. Later in life Pearl is dressed in scarlet with golden trim to mirror the scarlet brand on her mother’s bosom. Pearl’s deep connection with Hester’s letter reveals Hester’s own perverse fascination with her sin and punishment, a fascination that holds Hester in Boston despite her treatment. As Pearl grows her connection to the letter grows violent. She simply stared at the letter in an eerie fashion as an infant, but as a child she throws flowers at the letter, and when she ran out of flowers she “stood still and gazed at Hester, with that little, laughing image of a fiend peeping out” (Hawthorne 89). Pearl’s increase in violence is in no way limited to flowers, however, for when Puritan children conspired to harass mother and child by flinging mud at them Pearl chased them away resembling “some such half-fledged angel of judgement” (Hawthorne 93). This violence brings Pearl closer to the supernatural images that Hester saw in her eyes, and cements her connection to Hester’s inner feelings toward Puritan society.

Symbolism

Hawthorne uses symbolism to not only develop the characters but also the general tone and tenor of the story. Primarily, the use of sunshine is peculiar, and its contrast to darkness show Hester’s position in and view of society. One would assume that sunlight represented a force of goodness, but it does not seem that way. When Hester is released from prison, she feels as if the sunshine was “meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast” (Hawthorne 72). This shows that sunlight can almost be seen as the eye of society and how Hester cannot hide herself from the truth. Another example of sunlight is when Hester is visiting the governor’s house and exclaims to Pearl that she cannot give her sunshine, but rather that Pearl must gather her own (Hawthorne 94), as Pearl rushes to play along the Governor’s lawn. The contrast of darkness to this sunshine further proves this point, because Hester sees the darkness of the wild as her only solace. She thinks she is protected here because she is away from the sunlight of society. This can be interpreted as Hester trying to protect Pearl from the discriminating eye of society, especially that of the Governor, who wields much of the power. Sunshine sets a sharp contrast to Hester’s life because it can be seen as the eye of society, which is not favorable to Hester or her daughter Pearl.

Nature imagery plays a significant part in developing the story and the characters, specifically Pearl. Hester decides to stay on the outskirts of town, and live in the wilderness because she describes her sins as being “rooted” and chaining her to the earth. She believes that the wild can now purify her soul through punishment and ultimately, martyrdom. Essentially, Hester sees the wild and nature as her solace now, because society has exiled her. In addition, Pearl is very deeply rooted with nature, as she grows up. Pearl pretends the trees and weeds around the house are the Puritan men, and children and seemingly “goes to battle” (Hawthorne 85) with them rather than to play amiably. This signifies that Pearl as a child does not view society as friendly, and uses nature as a way to preserve feelings against society. It also shows that Pearl possesses otherworldly, demonic characteristics that her mother fears because Pearl is so deeply imbedded in nature. Additionally, the role of the rosebush becomes ever more prominent. When Hester and Pearl go to visit the Governor, Pearl has an immediate attraction to the rosebush, and screams uncontrollably for a red rose. Afterwards, Pearl says that she “had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door” (Hawthorne 102). The rosebush itself outside the prison door symbolizes the hope that is still present, even while being condemned for sins committed. In the same way, Pearl’s attraction to the red rose bud shows how even though Hester is worried and concerned about the demonic nature of Pearl, she still sees Pearl as a solace, and a comfort that came from her own sin. Essentially, Pearl is equivalent to the rose because she symbolizes the little comfort that came out of Hester’s sins.

Finally, Pearl herself is symbolic of Hester’s internal turmoil and feelings for having sinned. Hester is frightened of Pearl, but tries to enhance her beauty by dressing her in rich colors, most notably red. This is symbolic of Hester’s red letter, and how Hester views Pearl as an outcome of her sins, and an extension of herself. In addition, Hester sees herself within Pearl. She sees her own moodiness within Pearl, in the way that Pearl is so free-willed. However Hester blames herself for the fiendish nature of Pearl and seems to be repentant of her sins because of that. She claims that she had corrupted the morality of Pearl through her act. When Pearl torments Hester by seeing the scarlet letter first and grabbing for it when she woke, and when she throws flowers at her scarlet letter, Hester sees no way out. Hester feels trapped by her sins, because she continually is reminded of what she did by Pearl.

Theme

An overarching theme formulated from these chapters is based on how Hester views herself through Pearl. It can be said that experiences shape a person's views. Hester is now more wary and views her sins in a less forthright manner, because she is frightened of the result (Pearl) that came as a result of adultery.

Social Criticism

Hawthorne continually challenges the way of the Puritan society by describing Hester’s situation with almost a sympathetic tone, and by the way he describes the lives of the men in power.Pearl’s reaction to the Puritan children, men, and women signifies and shows the intolerable nature of the Puritans that Hawthorne disagrees with. When the Puritan children come close to Pearl and when the men and women continually humiliate Hester and her, “Pearl felt the sentiment, and requited it with the bitterest hatred” (Hawthorne 86). Hawthorne is condemning the uncompassionate and unforgiving nature of the Puritans, because this hostile society does not allow for second chances, and therefore, does not perpetuate compassion.Additionally, Hawthorne denounces the hypocrisy of the upper levels of Puritan society. When Hester visits the Governor, it is noted that his home had a “brilliancy [that] might have befitted Aladdin’s palace, rather than the mansion of a grave old Puritan ruler” (Hawthorne 94).Puritans believe in simplicity of living, so therefore the ruler of the Puritans must embody this idea.However, the ruler is living in an extravagant mansion, which elevates him to a much higher status than everyone else. Ultimately, the Governor is taking advantage of his position, which goes against Puritan values, and shows how leaders are placed on an unjustly high pedestal.

Modern Connection

While seventeenth century Boston seems to be in the distant past, connections can still be made to the twenty-first century world. The treatment of Hester, who is deemed a bad mother, is not far off from the way unfit parents are treated today. In Australia, legislation is being passed to take children away from parents who are abusive, drug-addicted, or otherwise deemed unfit. The parents will get a two-year period to prove that they can be good parents, or else their children may be taken from them (Spagnolo). While Hester is not abusive or addicted to drugs, her fellow Puritans view her sinful actions as if that were the case. Though for Hester it is not official legislation, she must prove herself as a mother because she knows there is always a chance of the town deciding to take her child from her. The Australian government rationalizes that by taking children away from parents who are not suited to raise them, the children will be raised in better homes by parents who are able to care properly for them (Spagnolo). Similarly, the people of Boston want to take Pearl away from Hester so she may be raised by a better-suited mother. Because of Hester’s shameful sin, it is believed that she is unfit to teach her child Puritanism and the correct moral values. In both of these worlds, society steps in and interferes with families, believing it to be for the greater good of the children involved.

References

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Classic, 1850. Print.

Spagnolo, Joe. "Bad parents to lose kids for 18 years under new Government plan." Perthnow.1 Mar.

2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.