Horne 1

Victoria Horne
Ms. Smit
12 AP Lit. & Comp
March 27, 2015
Independent Novel #3 Assignment
At length, assuming a singular air of authority, Pearl stretched out her hand, with the small
forefinger extended, and pointing evidently towards her mothers 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 novels symbol of truth and usually stands in
juxtaposition to society but stays by her mothers side. However, in this passage, she is standing
against her mother when she notices her mothers hair down and scarlet letter A removed.
This sudden anger in Pearl could bring the audience to hypothesize that Hester and
Dimmesdales plan to escape might not be a successful or beneficial one. Pearls 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 Pearls reflection in the water can convey the
innocence she has by being confused by her mothers physical change. In the text, Pearls
reflection is described with the words flower, sunny, and small; all of which can be
Horne 2

associated with innocence. 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. Pearl will not fit and
juxtapose as well with the society of the European world and neither will the letter. In the
European world, the citizens wouldnt understand the meaning of the letter and nor the meaning
of Pearl; in the colonial society, Pearl seems so different from all the other children but she might
not be so different from European children. So this also leads to Pearls possible interpretation of
her mother abandoning her.