Pearl as a Part of Nature

Chapters 19-21

Alright, I’m going to have to contradict a little of what Alex said here. I do think that Pearl is very natural, but she doesn’t want to become part of the Puritan society. As we have established in class, Pearl seems to be one with nature; this is something that the Romantics greatly valued and tried to stress in their writing. Pearl can’t want to be a part of both the Puritan society and nature at the same time. I believe that Hawthorne wanted us to view Pearl as a good force in this book since she is childlike and is a part of nature; since she is part of nature, she can’t be one with society which the Romantics viewed as a bad institution that people should try to escape from.

Although Pearl is one with nature and the letter is a symbol of society and the punishment it has inflicted upon Hester, Pearl wanted her mother to put the letter back on because Pearl’s main mission in the novel seems to be to constantly remind her mother of the sin she has committed. Thus, Pearl snatches up this opportunity to once again remind her mother of the adulterous act she has committed by forcing Hester to put on the letter and pull up her hair. Pearl avoids Dimmesdale for the same reason; she is reminding him of the sin he committed but is also angry with him because will not go and confess his true self to the town. That is why Pearl runs away from him and tries to scrub off the kiss that he gave her. Pearl seems to be playing a reverse role in the novel; she is a child but she seems to know what actions can save her parents while Hester and Dimmesdale remain clueless and intent on running away to escape from their sin.