The Rhetorical Strategies of the Scarlett Letter

Grayce Byrnes Mr. Smith AP English 11-Period A 24 family 2012 The Passion of drib In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts the unsaidships of a raw girl named Hester forced to live with the earn A pinned to her chest in penitence for her transgresss in a strict Puritan town in the 1800s. The illegitimate daughter of Hester carries the same traits and qualities as Hester, making Pearl a double of Hester. Hawthorne defines Pearl with his use of abstract diction, whimsical measure, and his selection of detail.Pearls character functions primarily as a symbolic character that stands for her let and the red-faced earn. Pearl becomes the Scarlet Letter brought to life. She is dressed in elaborate, scarlet garb as if to be a real-life scarlet earn. The narrator explains her as the scarlet letter in another form the scarlet letter endowed with life (Hawthorne 57). When Hester tries to discard the letter, she gets in a panic mode, as if Hester is actually discardi ng her. The author never really states the propose of Pearl beingness the scarlet letter, but instead uses abstract ideas and prodigious vocabulary.Many people in the Puritan community believe that since Hester would not reveal the childs father, that he must be the discommode himself. Pearl has an uncanny detection of what goes on around her and constantly is seeking for the truth. The connection of Pearl to the letter and her constant obsession with finding truth leads us to believe that the letter means truth. Her excessively perceptive knowledge is almost supernatural. Hawthornes tone is one of a whimsical, mischievous, and capricious descriptions. Pearls main purpose seems to be to uncover the truth for the main characters.Once she completes her goal, A spell was broken. The extensive scene of grief, in which the wild infant bore a party, had positive all her sympathies and as her tears fell upon her fathers cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human jo y and sorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it. Towards her mother, too, Pearls errand as a messenger of twisting was all fulfilled(233). Her capricious emotions and the fickle opinions of the author make it hard for the reader to decipher if the child is the evil embodiment of Hesters sin or just the naivety and curiosity of a child.Overall, there ar some striking similarities between Hester and Pearl. Even during Hesters pregnancy, she could feel Pearls wild, desperate, defiant peevishness, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud-shapes of sombreness and despondency that had brooded in her heart (50). These emotions correlate with Hester. Her wild, desperate and defiant mood is emulated through her betrayal of the puritans through her sin. Her temper, gloom, and despondency is felt from Hester because of her forced isolation from the rest of the town and marked as an outcast. Pearl is described as beautiful, imaginative, gracefu l, and impulsive.These traits are also seen in Hester. Pearl is a character of enigma and has an almost supernatural essence to her. The author talks about her homogeneous she is more than human although we never know if she heaven-sent or from the devil because the author plays both sides of the argument. Pearl is a symbol of the passion that is at bottom every human heart, and as the story ends with her finding great achievement in Europe, she shows us that society should never define you. I affiance My Honor That I Have not Received Aid on this Paper _____________________________________________