Shiny Treasure Chest

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” is set in the 1600s, and most of the characters are Puritans. The main character is named Hester Prynne, a caring mother, and a sinner. Chapter one opens with her being on the scaffold, being accounted for her sin: adultery, basically sex before marriage. On the scaffold, she is holding her biggest treasure: Pearl, her daughter. might be Hester’s biggest treasure, but is she golden? Her intentions might be good but her actions are different.

First of all, Hester’s thoughts about her daughter give one of the reasons why Pearl isn’t truly an angel, but a result of something that shouldn’t have happened: ”Her only real comfort was when the child lay in the placidity of sleep. Then she was sure of her, and tasted hours of quiet, sad, delicious happiness; until — perhaps with that perverse expression glimmering from beneath her opening lids — little Pearl awake.” & “From that epoch, except when the child was asleep, Hester had never felt a moment’s safety: not a moment’s calm enjoyment of her” (Hawthorne 64 & 66). By these words, we can tell Hester loves her daughter but hates her behavior. Not only that but finding peace when other people are sleeping is having a moment without them. Hester can’t stand her own daughter when she is awake, which suggests that Pearl is an impish, loud child. Furthermore, Hester calls her an imp: “Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world … An imp of evil, emblem, and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants” (Hawthorne 64). Pearl, a curious child, also annoys her mother by pointing out her sin.

Pearl, ever since she has been little, never knew the full explanation behind the letter on her mother’s chest. Though amazed by the skill, she kept putting it out on the table: “One day, as her mother stooped over the cradle, the infant’s eyes had been caught by the glimmering of the gold embroidery about the letter; and putting up her little hand she grasped at it, smiling, not doubtfully, but with a decided gleam, that gave her face the look of a much older child” (Hawthorne 66). Each time that happened, Hester never told the full story, but she only got embarrassed and tried to avoid the topic. It’s understandable, imagine a three-year-old daughter of her own, who keeps on asking about the sin, in which she was made. It would not be a pleasant conversation, but also if Pearl knew the real truth behind her existence, she would be a good child because of what her mother went through.

Out of all the bad things she had done, the worst was throwing rocks at little kids playing “Witchcraft”. Instead of joining them to have fun like all the kids in the world should have, she was watching and hurting them: “Pearl saw, and gazed intently, but never sought to make acquaintance. (…) If the children gathered about her, as they sometimes did, Pearl would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up some stones to fling at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations, that made her mother tremble…” (Hawthorne 65). Pearl, as a little kid, should have had all the fun and many friends, but due to her mother’s position, it is not easy. Both of them are outcasts in their town after all. Throwing rocks at any people whether they are the most hated or brutal in the world is the first step to becoming worse. It may start with small things which will later become bigger and bigger. Who knows, maybe Pearl will follow Hester’s sin or go beyond that.

Although Pearl isn’t the best child, readers find her funny and even recognize her good intentions. She just doesn’t know the right approach; the one she is choosing isn’t good. The moment that Pearl heard the Puritan kids need to throw mud at her and Hester, she quickly intervened. Making angry gestures and chasing them made all the children scared: “‘Come, therefore, and let us fling mud at them!’ But Pearl, who was a dauntless child, after frowning, stamping her foot, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies and put them all to fight. (…) She screamed and shouted, too, with a terrific volume of sound, which, doubtless, caused the hearts of the fugitives to quake within them.”(Hawthorne 70). This moment is inspiring because when seeing her mother in trouble she stepped up and was willing to defend her. The ending of this scene is quite hilarious: “The victory accomplished, Pearl returns quietly to her mother, and looked up, smiling, into her face.” (Hawthorne 70) Smiling as a way of expressing “no problem” makes readers laugh. Not only that Hester was okay with it, but she also didn’t yell at or ground Pearl.

“Pearl, her daughter. might be Hester’s biggest treasure, but is she golden?”

Even though she has good intentions, isn’t a good child. She embarrasses her mother, throws stones at playing kids, and the fact that Hester finds peace only when she is sleeping is sad. However, their love is mutual and defending her from the Puritan kids proves both good intentions and love for Hester. The treasure is shiny but won’t make anybody rich.