Pearl: A product of Nature
Uploaded by jroum on Oct 16, 1999
Pearl is one of the most interesting and mysterious characters of the novel The Scarlet Letter. One tends to wonder why Pearl is the way she is. Why does she act so strangely and so differently than all the other characters? She acts this way because of a relationship she has with the force of Nature, which Hawthorne personifies as sympathetic towards sins against the puritan way of life. Because of this trait Hester's sin causes Nature to accept Pearl. Finally, Pearl's acceptance of Nature is what causes her to act the way she does.
First it is necessary to examine how nature is identified with sin against the Puritan way of life. The first example of this is found in the first chapter regarding the rosebush at the prison door. This rosebush is located "on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold"(36) of the prison. The prison naturally is the place where people that have sinned against the puritan way of life remain. Then Hawthorne suggests that the roses of the rose-bush "might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him"(36). This clearly states that Nature is kind to prisoners and criminals that pass through the prison doors. Hawthorne strengthens this point by suggesting two possible reasons for the rosebush's genesis. The first is that "it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness..."(36), while the second reason is that "there is fair authority for believing [the rose-bush] had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson..."(36). By Hawthorne's wording it appears as if he is emphasizing the second reason because he suggests there is "fair authority." Connecting the rosebush originating from Ann Hutchinson, an outcast from puritan society, shows the connection with Nature and sin against puritan way of life. This rosebush symbolizes the sympathy of Nature towards the very people Puritan society has condemned.
The idea illustrated by the rosebush can therefore be applied to the specific character of Pearl. Because Pearl was expelled from Puritan society Nature sympathizes with her. Nature's sympathy and partiality with Pearl can be seen with the sunshine in the forest. Pearl attempts to "catch" the sunshine and according to Hawthorn "Pearl...