Hester is an outcast of society, both spiritually and physically. She is the lone sinner in this Puritan world, the single condemned soul that wonders the streets. Hester and her scarlet letter, both cloth and blood, accompany her where-ever she goes; they are a dark shadow of guilt on her conscious. The scarlet letter burns on her chest; it creates not a scar, but an open soar that is continuously being pestered. Hester is the scapegoat for all the so-called non-sinners in the community. She alone has taken the fall from paradise to this wretched state of hopelessness and anguish. However, even in such a sinful heart and sinful hands beauty can be made. Hester has a gift of crafting spectacular apparel by the use of her needle. It is a skill that the community appreciates and uses, since her wondrous outfits have become the standard that no others can reach.
Hester now lives in the woods with her baby, Pearl. "Pearl: a gem of the sea" Yet Hester refers to the child as an evil elf. Is she truly evil, or is Pearl just a free spirit? Is Pearl actually the scarlet letter in blood and flesh, the physical form of her parents sin and damnation? I do not see Pearl as a devil child, but as a youngster lashing out at the hypocritical world that has condemned her and her mother. Pearl wishes to express herself freely in a world that has backed her into a corner and thrown a defining collar upon her helpless neck.
2 comments:
Excellent and poetically written summary!!
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