The Scarlet Letter Novel By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the novel “The Scarlet Letter” is a historical fiction published in 1850. The setting of the book dates back to 1642 to 1649 Puritan community in the Bay Colony of Massachusetts. The central themes in the storyline focus on one Hester Prynne, a woman who conceives through an affair termed unethically and is forced to undergo repentance and cleansing because of the daughter she sires, in the process losing much of her dignity in the society (Hawthorne 12). While Hester struggles through emotional, social, and psychological pain to raise her otherwise rejected daughter, Pearl, the father, who is apparently unidentified, is under great guilt. As Hawthorne`s audience would later learn, the illegitimate father of Pearl is revealed, and the hypocrisy of the Puritans is known, hence putting their faith at stake. Later, the rejection Hester faces compels her husband, Roger Chillingworth, to move in with her so they can find a new life. In order to effectively explore the novel “The Scarlet Letter”, it is not only essential to discuss the themes of guilt, sin, and legalism but also critical to outline how Hawthorne uses Pearl's complex character as a way to critique Puritan society.

On the one hand, Pearl can be understood as an individual with a complex character whose personality for the platform upon which other characters thrive. On the other, Pearl is a major symbol in this novel and has been purposefully used by the author to show the hypocrisy and weaknesses of the Puritan culture. The scarlet letter that Hester holds is, in reality, reflected in the person of Pearl, and hence, she symbolizes the pains of her mother. She is a phenomenal manifestation of transgression and the sins that her mother suffers. Nevertheless, despite being a show of sin, Pearl is a gift, favor, and blessing to Hester. Moreover, through the person of pearl Hawthorne drives his audience to notice the vital spirits that rule over the Puritan faith and the passions more engendered than sin itself. Consequently, Pearl gives Hester a reason to overcome challenges and choose life instead of despair, even in times of temptation. Until Dimmesdale is revealed as one who fathered pearl, she had no place in the Puritan society, and then she gained the dignity accorded to other humans in the Puritan faith. Therefore, Pearl is a character whose existence helps Hawthorne solve the mystery of the Puritans to his audience.

Through the character of Pearl, the representation of the unbecoming and strict practices of the Puritans in the name of religion is not only an observation by Hawthorne but also a significant criticism of the beliefs embraced by the Puritans. Indeed, Pearl is a picture that mirrors how women are discriminated against in Puritan society. Hence, New England, the setting of the novel, is depicted as a place whose inhabitants severely punished earthly sins without reason (Hawthorne 125). The principles to observe and the culture that has been embraced are Christian-like, but its application is not homogenous between males and females. Consequently, the Puritan society is portrayed as a people who lacked fairness and were inclined to both biased and sentimental forms of judgment. Indeed, the migrants from Britain who would later occupy the Bay Colony were people who claimed religious purity. Yet, the acts of the individual members were in complete contrast with the church's traditions. The structures of the family, the religious factions, and the society were to uphold puritanism. Consequently, men were the heads of the family units. Decision-making was a reserve of the male characters, meaning women were mere spectators in policy-making. Hence, they were responsible for taking care of children and their husbands. As such, the Puritans believed such a structure pleased God, and sin was severely condemned. Nevertheless, when members were accused of sins like adultery, only women were punished as opposed to the respective male folks (Hawthorne 214). Therefore, through the complex character of Pearl, the author confirms that women were better than how the society portrayed them and that the injustices t the heart of the Puritan faith was uncalled for. The beliefs and forms of punishment among the Puritans were indeed unjustified.

In a community where religion is revered and acts of faith upheld to the letter, the Puritan society claimed children are seen as blessings, and the sinful deeds of parents cannot be associated with their newborn babies. Nevertheless, when Esther leaves the prison, Pearl has been tagged as an illegitimate child, already condemned to sin by the religious leaders, and her mother is painted as an adulterous woman (Hawthorne 19). On the contrary, Esther was not put down by the discriminations against her, and she enjoyed the marked letter “A” on her face in that she had made a “gorgeous luxuriance of fancy that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration” (Hawthorne 119). Therefore, she became more resilient than a low spirit. Indeed, Esther does not let her enemies imagine that she has been moved by the actions of discrimination against her. With her daughter Pear, they paint a picture that the holiness among Puritans is a pretentious call that, in reality, does not behold. As such, it becomes apparent that women had no respect among the Puritans, and they were an inferior sex that faced daily indignities.

Pearl`s father does not receive any form of harsh punishment, but she is accused of being a child of sin. Reverend Dimmesdale goes without rebuke, while the daughter has been denied a chance in the community. Indeed, the author challenges his audience to imagine that if the Reverend Dimmesdale was honourable as his religious title beholds, then he should have come out to defend the truth. Unfortunately, because of pretence and social injustices, it did not happen. Consequently, the otherwise pure form of faith by the community has been shown as a faction of influential sinners who cannot be challenged because of their religious positions. While the Puritans had faith in men, and thus it was the tradition of men to lead, Reverend Dimmesdale has failed, and Esther offers a leaning shoulder. Therefore, the irony of the Puritans, a people who claim holiness yet they embrace sin has been exposed by Hawthorne through the character of pearl.

Because Pearl is the daughter of one of the most respected figures in the Puritan faith and she is suffering without course, yet she is an innocent child, it becomes apparent that there is a flaw inside of the reverent flock of the purity community. While the guardians of faith should lead those in lower religious stature to observe ethical uprightness, instead, Pearl`s biological father has fallen into sin. Consequently, the religious figures in the novel have been portrayed as a desolate and weak segment of the Puritan society, whose sin is a rebuke to the church. Furthermore, the presentation of a religious figure as one who is the biological father of the illegitimate child means once Pearl is regarded as a sin, then her parents are too sinful (Hawthorne 12). Consequently, even the church is sinful and rotten to the core because adultery has affected the hearts of the perceived saints (Reverend Dimmesdale). Thus, through the character of Pearl, since her childhood, the author makes his audience learn that the purity religion is a failed faith.

Pearl is a young girl who has set the pace for the independence and reclamation of dignity for the female gender in Puritan society. While girls were taught from a tender age to embrace domestic chores, Esther does not teach Pearl the same culture. In fact, it appears that the role of the church is to destroy and make miserable the lives of women from childhood. The lack of Puritan beliefs in Pearl's life confirms that the once misleading religion is no longer part of society. By making Pearl a heroine in the novel, in that context, Hawthorne gives the females an opportunity to set a new culture for the society. Furthermore, the old beliefs and traditions that afflicted women have been termed invalid. Consequently, no degree of disgrace, ridicule, and punishment could deny Pearl her place in society, and together with her Mother, they shine for the feminine community to claim their place in a society otherwise unfairly dominated by the males.

Work Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter, a Romance - Nathaniel Hawthorne - Google Books. Fields, Osgood, & Company, 1871 Original from Harvard University, 2007. Web.