scarlet letter
In the book The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a series of important events take place, which are shaped by their settings. Such settings are the fundamental prophets and story-line guides within the book, symbolizing the characters and the paths that they will take. A premium example of such a setting is the brook in the forest. The brook within the of the forest carries symbol of both Pearl as the intended ‘moral blossom’, showing the reader each moral value of her Mother and Dimmesdale’s actions, and a metaphor for the limbo which Pearl and her ‘family’ are stranded in. The brook is a vast parallel to Pearl, Hester, and Dimmesdale’s situation, beginning with its very placement. As well connected as a verse in a poem is the association between Pearl and the Babbling brook. The brook was borne of the Forest, which in it self represented immorality and impurity, just as Pearl was borne of a society which saw her as a product of just that. And so, as the brook was condemned to its babble because it “had gone through so solemn an experience that it could not help talking about it, and seemed to have nothing else to say,” so was Pearl condemned to the currents of her own li
Interestingly, because of this connection, Hester and Pearl both seemed to have an inert draw to the forest and it’s brook. Within the forest both Pearl and Hester found a certain solace, yet Pearl lived on as a animated scarlet letter and the brook continued its sorrowful existence, as did Hester. The sadness of the brook’s babbled, though babble suggests a certain uplifting, implies the sadness of Pearl’s position in life as Hester’s relentless embodiment of her sin. Yet Pearl accepted her mother when she embraced her ignominy, as she rejected Dimmesdale for concealing his own guiltiness. As the stream continued it’s sad song, so did Pearl deny Dimmesdale until he came forth with his own sin. “… the little stream… kept telling its unintelligible secret of some mournful mystery that had happened -- or making a prophetic lamentation about something that was yet to happen…” Pg. 172. Dimmesdale and Hester made a temporary peace, and with this peace came Hester’s release from her Scarlet symbol. With the revelation of the proximity of their freedom, came a rekindled joy from both of them, thought long dead, and as the brook and its surroundings reflected their ill-fated destiny, so did the sun shine when Hester and Dimmesdale found their long denied beam of hope. “as if gloom of the earth and sky had been but the effluence of those two mortal heart, it vanished with their sorrow. All at once…f
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hester Dimmesdale, Pearl Hester, Pearl Babbling, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl Pearl, Pearl Dimmesdale, Dimmesdale Hester, Moreover Hester, Mother Dimmesdale’s, Hester Dimmesdale’s, brook forest, sad story, pearl hester, scarlet letter, pg 172, brook continued, kept murmuring, thou canst, brook brook, leaving pearl,
Approximate Word count = 997
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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