Horne 1 Victoria Horne Ms. Smit 12 AP Lit’& Comp March 27, 2015 Independent Novel #3 Assignment 1, “Atlength, assuming a singular air of authority, Pear! stretched out her hand, with the small forefinger extended, and pointing evidently towards her mother’s breast. And beneath, in the mirror of the brook, there was the flower-girdled and sunny image of little Pearl, pointing her small forefinger too.” This section of the novel reveals both the ambiguity between good and evil and the ambiguity of truth. Pearl can be seen as the novel’s symbol of truth and usually stands in juxtaposition to society but stays by her mother’s side. However, in this passage, she is standing against her mother when she notices her mother’s hair down and scarlet letter “A” removed. This sudden anger in Pear! could bring the audience to hypothesize that Hester and Dimmesdale’s plan to pare might not be a successful or beneficial one. Pearl’s surprising reaction of going against her mother and seeming fearful and suspicious show this. This could possibly be because Hester and Dimmesdale are forfeiting their fight with society by leaving. They have accepted that the sin they committed has consumed them, like their society proposed Pearl could also take this notion of the removal of the letter as abandonment of her mother. The image of both physical Pearl and Pearl’2, reflection in the water can convey the innocence she has by being confused by her mother’s physical change, This can also convey her insightful thoughts into whether her mother is making plans that will go astray or abandoning her. Since the letter was thrust upon Hester because of the town noticing her pregnant with Pearl, Pearl is now a part of the meaning of the letter so Pearl is physically attached to it, This symbol of the letter and Pearl are also connected with the colonial society, which Hester and Dimmesdale are trying to leave. Pear will not fit and juxtapose as well with the society of the European world and neither will the letter. So this also leads to Pearl's possible interpretation of her mother abandoning her. The novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, brings light to controversial societal issues and the ambiguity between good and evil. Hester is originally scorned for her bearing of the scarlet letter on her chest but after years have passed, Hester is viewed differently, “As is apt to be the case when a person stands out in any prominence before the community, and, at the same time, interferes neither with public nor individual interests and convenience, a species of general regard had ultimately grown up in reference to Hester Prynne” (Hawthorne). The Puritan society of colonial America constantly stood against adultery, but now that Hester is helping people and aiding the society, it seems almost that her sin is forgiven. This corruption and hypocrisy of the Puritan society evolves the question of whether everyone in the colony now has freedom or if they just have freedom within Puritan society, ‘This discussion of corruption inHorne 3 society can be connected to almost any period of time in almost any county in America. This novel offers these questions and debates for its audience to speculate and connect to points in their own life. In many works of literature, the question of what is good and what is evil are juxtay6: debated. Reflect on how this ambiguity of good and evil is a part of a novel. Choose some scenes where this ambiguity occurs. Then write a well-organized essay where you describe the discussion of good and evil in your novel and how it connect to the meaning to the work asa whole, Avoid mere summarization.