Sunday, August 22, 2010

THE INTERVIEW, HESTER AT HER NEEDLE, and PEARL


The Scarlet Letter By: Nathaniel Hawthorne (pg. 56-78)
THE INTERVIEW
The stranger comes to the jail and tells the jailer he is a doctor and can help Hester be less of a bother. When the stranger is a lone with Hester he reveals himself to be her husband but makes her promise to not tell anyone of their relation or he will find the infants father and reveal Hester's secret. The stranger, Hester's husband leaves her alone and we now know him to be Roger Chillingworth.
HESTER AT HER NEEDLE
When Hester was released from jail she found an abandonned house on the outskirts of town and began to live there and raise her child. She felt she should stay where her sin was commited in prder to purge herself of it. She was able to make money by embroidering clothing. Her embroidery became so popular and in fashion even the government offivials wore it. To deliver the garmets Hester would go into town and feel great pain as townsfol starred at her scarlet letter. But Hester sometimes feels the letter posses a power to detect other people's sins.
PEARL
Pearl is the name of the infant. As Pearl grows up Hester is worried by her wild and vivacious personality and it reminds her of how she was before she had Pearl. The townspeople believe Pearl to be a demon child and even Hester sometimes questions if the infant is infact human. Pearl does not like the other children of the town and trows rocks at them when they stare at her. When Pearl plays she pretends the town children are weedsas she plucks them from the ground.

Now we see how Hester and Pearl live. How though Hester knows where her husband is she must not see him or tell anyone of how she knows him. Hester and Pearl must live alone isolated from the community. It's very sad that Pearl must also pay for her mother's sin. She plays by herself and has no one in the world but her mom. I wonder what conflict will arise in the next chapter that will cause the dynamic of the story to change. Life seems to be calm and routine as possible for Hester and Pearl, but I'm sure there will be something to shake things up.

VIDEO:
HowStuffWorks Videos "The Scarlet Letter: Hester and Her Daughter Pearl"

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