Miranda: English II, Section F

English Blog: Practice for forming arguments and a thesis statement, based on quotations and notes from class

Ch.6 “Pearl”

1. “Her Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which (irony) had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre (not) that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant ‘Pearl’, as being of great price, (huge effort; sacrifice) –purchased with all she had,–her mother’s only treasure!” (priceless ness, value, rich, rare) (80—not correct).

Pearl
not white, calm or lacking passion
her name conflicts with her personality (ironic)
Hester was sacrificing and it was a huge effort to keep Pearl and develop a relationship with her
-suggests Pearl’s isolation, her own mother doesn’t understand her and has great difficulty developing a relationship with her (sad)
Hester worked very hard to achieve Pearl and develop a relationship with her, she gave it everything she had, suggesting a great sacrifice
Treasure: Pearl is very valuable to Hester

Arguments
The fact that Hester named Pearl a name that was so utterly conflicting with her personality and disposition suggests that Hester didn’t expect Pearl to be like that. The irony of the conflict between her name and her personality strengthens the comparison between what Pearl could have been, and perhaps, what Hester expected her to be, with who she really was. Pearl is very different from the Puritan society and she is so “ahead of her time” and intelligent, that no one understands her (including her own mother-Hester), which leads to them calling her demon-child because they are afraid of the unknown and what she might do to their society.

Thesis
Although Pearl’s name seems to suggest purity and calmness, as well as perhaps a lack of passionate behavior, Pearl’s personality and disposition proves to be exactly the opposite.

The Puritan society in which Pearl lives is really not as advanced as she is, and the fact that she is so different from everyone else makes the community ostracize her, for fear of the unknown and what Pearl could potentially do to their community. Even Hester, Pearl’s own mother works very hard in order to develop a relationship with Pearl and learn to understand her.

Question To Consider: Was Pearl “evil” from the very beginning, or did the fact that no one seemed to understand her (including her own mother) contribute to her developing characteristics that were “ahead of their time” and misunderstood by the community?

2. “Her nature…lacked reference and adaptation to the world into which she was born. The child could not be made amenable to rules. In giving her existence, a great law had been broken: and the result was a being, whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder: or with an order peculiar to themselves, amidst which the point of variety and arrangement was difficult or impossible to be discovered” (81-82).

Lacked reference and adaptation to the world: outsider, “alien”, disconnected
Amenable to rules: rebelliousness
A great law: fundamentally wrong; curse
Perhaps: open to interpretation; reflects the author thinking
Or
Was difficult or impossible to be discovered: so “ahead of her time” that the community is not advanced enough to understand her

Arguments
The fact that Pearl even lacked reference to the world she lived in, just displays how modern and “ahead of her time” she really is. Pearl’s qualities of rebelliousness or lack of respect, could simply be misunderstood, or perhaps, caused by the fact that no one seems to understand her. The fact that Pearl was produced through the fact that a great law was broken suggests that her existence is fundamentally wrong. Hawthorne uses the word “perhaps” to suggest that maybe the community sees Pearl as non-conformist, evil, or a devil-child, simply has to do with the fact that they are not advanced enough to understand her, and they just suggest these things about her because they are afraid of the unknown, and Pearl seems unpredictable and very different from any one they have ever known. They do not understand her, or what she could potentially do to the community, so they socially ostracize her and view her with great negativity.

Thesis
The fact that Pearl is seen as a “devil-child” and is viewed by the Puritan society that she lives in, with great negativity, is a result of the fact that she is too “ahead of her time” for the community to understand her. That is to say that, the reason the community views Pearl with such great negativity, is that they can tell that she has unbelievable intelligence and intuition, and she is so different from everyone they have ever encountered, that they shun her from society from fear and lack of understanding about who she is. They do not know what she could potentially do to the community, if they eventually agreed to accept her for who she is.

Question to Consider: Was Pearl in fact evil, or simply misunderstood and too “ahead of the times” for the community to handle?