Scarlet Letter free essay sample

On one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him. Chapter 1, pg. 46 -This rose-bush represents Pearl afterwards in Hester’s life. The prison reflects on the image of Hester where Pearl gives her all the joy and comfort to Hester to bear the weight of the sin. Quote: On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony. She made it look so, in order to tell the public that she is a sinner. Even tough she has a sin inside her soul, she is trying to portray it through the fanciness of her bosom and make it bearable to carry it on. Quote: When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips. Chapter 3, pg. 57 -This is the moment of recognition of Hester and her real husband that did not make to Boston with her. Quote: Never! Replied Hester Prynne, looking, not at Mr. Wilson, but into the deep and troubled eyes of the younger clergyman [Dimmesdale]. It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine! Chapter 3, pg. 64 Pride is revealed as a characteristic of Hester. Her sin has determined the letter to be worn on her bosom. As a seamstress the letter took a lot of time, patience and skill to make and she wont take it off because that letter has a price. But there is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom, which almost invariably compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghostlike, the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and still the more irresistibly, the darker the tinge that saddens it. Chapter 5, pg. 73 Human life’s are not perfect they always have â€Å"something hard† carrying on themselves, where a color to their life’s makes a difference. Quote: Throughout all, however, there was a trait of passion, a certain depth of hue. The child could not be made amenable to rules. The mothers impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life; and, however white and clear originally, they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the fiery lustre, the black shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening substance. Above all, the warfare of Hesters spirit, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl. Chapter 6, pg. 83 Pearl from this description is known to be the wild child. Her mother doesn’t not have full control over the feeling of Pearl. However, only Pearl bring any kind of joy to the Hester, giving her a will to live. Never, since release from prison, had Hester met the public gaze without her. † Chapter 6, pg. 85 Hester shows mental weakness. A cure for such a condition would be taking Pearl anywhere with her using her as a shield as a protection of the people ever hungry eyes. Quote: There was a fire in her [Pearl] and throughout her; she seemed the unpremeditated offshoot of a passionate moment. After putting her finger in her mouth, with many ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilsons questions, the child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison-door. Chapter 8, pg. 103 Pearl never takes any question serious, however always trying to make fun of people and to protect her mother. This is a key quote for the story. She is being very aggressive to other people for she knows that her mother loves her only and no other. Quote: Speak thou for me! cried she. Thou wast my pastor, and hadst charge of my soul, and knowest me better than these men can. I will not lose the child! Speak for me! Thou knowest, for thou hast sympathies which these men lack! thou knowest what is in my heart, and what are a mothers rights, and how much the stronger they are, when that mother has but her child and the scarlet letter! Look thou to it! I will not lose the child! Look to it! Chapter 8, pg. 104 Hester is desperate for Pearl. If Pearl is taken away from her she will â€Å"die† for she has no will to live. The sin will soon become too heavy without Pearl. As every mother is protective, Hester as a mother too is protective. This is one of nature laws. Quote: Roger Chillingworth the man of skill, the kind and friendly physician strove to go deep into his patients bosom, delving among his principles, prying into his recollections, and probing everything with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker in a dark cavern. Few secrets can escape an investigator, who has opportunity and license to undertake such a quest, and skill to follow it up. A man burdened with a secret should especially avoid the intimacy of his physician. Chapter 9, pg. 114 Roger Chillingworth is a mean character. All he is trying to do is to hurt Dimmesdale and make him confess the sin he has in his bosom, like Hester has. He is skilled in doing such a job, where Dimmesdale doesn’t give up that easy and he is not telling Roger Chillingworth anythinh. Quote: Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared. Chapter 10, pg. 120 This tells how Dimmesdale is keeping a safe distance from the drill of Roger Chillingworth’s words. However, he cannot really see that Roger Chillingworth is a friend or not so that is why he is keeping a safe distance from him. As we know Dimmesdale is like a safe, he will never tell him the sin he is keeping inside it. Roger Chillingworth in contrarily is making best efforts to open that safe. Quote: Even in the graveyard here at hand They are new to me. I found them growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly weeds, that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime. Perchance, said Mr. Dimmesdale, he earnestly desired it, but could not. Chapter 10, pg. 120 These ugly weeds symbolize the evil or bad things that were done by that man. They symbolize some hideous secret that was buried with him, because they grew from his heart. The heart is a secret safer and that is why it is said that a secret was buried. Quote: Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl! Chapter 10, pg. 123 Pearl is knows an â€Å"evil fighter†. Her ultimate goal is to â€Å"kill† the Black Man. Because she is an â€Å"evil fighter† the Black Man could not catch her. Pearl does not really know that the Black Man will catch Hester, but is trying to â€Å"safe† Hester. This also reveals as command to Hester, where Pearl seizes the opportunity to make Hester listen to her. Quote: But, if it be the souls disease, then do I commit myself to the one Physician of the soul! But who are thou, that meddlest in this matter? that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God? Chapter 10, pp. 125-6 Dimmesdale is on the right track, he is being suspicious of the Physician now. He is starting to disbelief him and tells him that his is not God to know everything he has and has done wrong. Quote: But with what a wild look of wonder, job, and horror! With what a ghastly rapture. making itself even riotously manifest by the extravagant gesture with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor! Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom. Chapter 10, pg. 127 Roger Chillingworth is being described as a creature more evil than the Satan himself. Quote: To the untrue man, the whole universe is false,- it is impalpable,- it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. The only truth that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul Chapter 11, pg. 134 You can imagine the universe as Dimmesdale’s heart, however remember that the universe is infinite large. The secret somewhere in the center of the universe, but we ant find the center because the universe is infinite big and the center cannot be found even though we know there is. Dimmesdale is most challenged with living together with the secret. I believe he should confess soon. Quote: Come up hither, Hester, thou and little Pearl. Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you. Come up hither once again, and we will stand all three together! Chapter 12, pg. 140 He wants to feel sinner too, even though there is no one to witness this situation, he is feeling greatly relieved. He felt it for first time how Hester had been through this years. He also knows that he cannot really imagine how it would feel like if the whole crowd was present. It is the only way to feel the right feeling of how Hester feels like standing on the scaffold. Quote: [M]any people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a womans strength. Chapter 13, pg. 148 Because of Hester strong character and dedication, the public feel that she doesn’t feel the sin anymore and that he has overcome the pain of it. They replace the A for Adulterer as â€Å"Able† to cope with the sin.