"In all the seven bygone years, Hester Prynne had never before been false to the symbol on her bosom. It may be that it was the talisman of a stern and severe, but yet a guardian spirit, who now forsook her; as recognizing that, in spite of his strict watch over her heart, some new evil had crept into it, or some old one had never been expelled. As for Little Pearl, the earnestness soon passed out of her face." ((Chapter 15/PAGE 158))
The seven years that Hester has worn the symbol upon her chest, she has never once lied about its whereabouts/origins. This paragraph marks the first time she has been untrue about it, despite the regulations set forth by the society saying that the symbol must be worn to show the trueness of Hester's impure character.
The fact that Hester tells a lie to her own child is a little stunning, unless it was to shut her up from asking soooooo many questions.
If this is so, a petty fib simply means nothing, but after telling it, it provokes a response in Hester. The symbol is holding her back from achieving her social status and riddance of guilt through public shame. This symbol has kept watch over her for seven years while she served her community, doing selfless acts of charity and being 'Able'. She has blown her child off to repel her annoying pestering thus lying to her which provoked the symbol to combat Hester's mind by adding more guilt to it. The scarlet letter has added more plagues to her conscience in retaliation for lying to Pearl.
The relationship between the letter and Pearl is shown due to the battle between the empowerment and betterment of Hester; the opposing sides of good (Pearl, by means of nature) and evil (Scarlet Letter, by means of society). Lying to Pearl has weakened Pearl's purpose and has given the letter an upper hand in messing with Hester, giving her more inner guilt. (Which is the killer in this book!)
Outstanding ideas here. The "A" is a character in this novel and does watch over Hester acknowledging both her good and bad deeds and it transforms itself with Hester. The fact that Hester lies to Pearl is alarming. Great insights.
ReplyDelete