Chapter 6

The Scarlet Letter

 

Chapter six is the most confusing chapter I have read so far. I understand to a certain degree what is being said, but then I’m not entirely sure if I am translating it right. Hester named her baby “Pearl” because she is her only treasure, but apparently the name doesn’t fit her. It seems like Hester is more worried about figuring out how Pearl is going to punish her rather than actually mothering and disciplining (and I think having a disobedient child is plenty of punishment in itself). I feel like Hester feels afraid or threatened by Pearl because she figures that Pearl is supposed to be her punishment, but since there is no physical deformities, which were not well accepted in that time period, she figures that Pearl is going to be like crazy or something or having something psychologically wrong with her. Or she could think that Pearl is going to be some monster to her since Hester raised her without a father. I find it pretty funny how Pearl is described as this beautiful, graceful child that is dressed like royalty, but really she is peasant child and a little brat. I feel like Pearl being so resistant to rules and consequences stems from having a sheltering, yet push-over mother. Pearl uses the fact that she is her mother’s only treasure to her advantage. When I read the lines, “Her mother, while Pearl was yet an infant, grew acquainted with a certain peculiar look that warned her when it would be labor thrown away to insist, persuade, or plead. It was a look so intelligent, yet inexplicable, so perverse, sometimes so malicious, but generally accompanied by a wild flow of spirits, that Hester could not help questioning, at such moments, whether Pearl was a human child.” (Hawthorne 88), I instantly thought of Pearl being the devil in disguise, she has an evil element to her that makes me question her appearance.  I knew from reading other blogs that some of you also acquainted Pearl with the devil, but I wasn’t sure why until I read that line. Apparently Pearl has this evil little laugh too, so now I’m completely freaked out by her. But at the same time I feel sympathy for Pearl because she is lonely, she really can’t talk to other children because she is a child of sin and isn’t “Christian” like the other children her age, so she acts out due to her frustration and loneliness because she knows that she is an outcast. I am actually extremely shocked to find out that Pearl is such a little witch because I had this idea of her being the most perfect little thing, quiet, sweet, respectable and loving, because I was hoping she would be better than any other child in the village and that would give her a good reputation and prove the Puritans wrong. My favorite part of the whole chapter was when Pearl pointed to Hester’s scarlet letter and said that she is not a child of Christ, Pearl is a lot smarter than other children her age and it makes me interested in the rest of the book.