xxxviii grows by the prison door. The Governor is so shocked by her reply that is immediately
prepared to take Pearl away from Hester. Hester grabs pearls and screams that she will die before the men are allowed to
take her daughter. Finally, in act of desperation, she turns to Arthur Dimmesdale and pleads with him to speak on her behalf. He comes forward with his hand over his heart
and argues that God has obviously given pearls to Hester for some divine reason, and that it would meddle with ways of the Lord to take Pearl away from her. He then
indicates that Pearl is punishment for Hester as well, evidenced by the “ grab of the poor child, so forcibly reminding us of that red symbol which sears [ Hester’s ] bosom”
Much of in this novel, is dedicated to drawing stronger parallels between pearl, The Scarlet letter, and the red rose. Thus pearl is called a “Red Rose”. Even stronger is
pearl’s response to Wilson’s question concerning who made her, where she says that she was plucked off of the rose bush outside the prison door. This directly tells the
reader that Pearl is the person to reveal the moral element of the story, for she embodies the morality which will appear.
3.2 Cruelty
The Scarlet Letter is a novel that’s deals with the topic of sin in Puritan society. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne really thought about sin and it’s aspects like
punishment. Throughout history, people have committed all types of sins, and whether they are major or minor, people have been punished. However, the severity of a
punishment is very difficult to agree on. Some people feel that sinners should be harshly punished no matter how little the wrongdoing was. Others feel that a persons
Universitas Sumatera Utara
xxxix punishment should be based upon the severity of their crime. However, what many
people overlook is the fact that in time, we all have committed sins.
In The Scarlet Letter, punishment is the main theme of the novel and how Hester Prynne, the main character, has been punished for her sin of adultery. As Nathaniel
Hawthorne states in this novel, In the view of Infinite Purity, we are sinners all alike. This statement puts a big question mark on the true lives of the Puritans. If we all have
once committed a moral wrongdoing, why is this young woman so harshly punished for she
“Ah, but, interposed more softly, a young wife a child by the hand, let her cover the mark as she will, the bang of it will be always in her heart” Hawthorne
1962:45 ]
From above quotation express the feeling of sympathy only expressed by one of the characters throughout this scene, is used by Hawthorne to criticize the Puritans for
their strictness. The society is too strict in its ways, and Hawthorne shows his contempt for the treatment of Hester by constantly reinforcing how cruelly the people talk about
her. “At the very last, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester
Prynne’s fore head. Madam Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she,- the naughty baggage,- little will she care what they put
upon the bodice of her gown why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or such like heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as
brave as ever….This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in Scripture. Then let the
magistrates, who have made it of no effect “Hawthorne 1962:45
This scene is the first of three scaffold scenes in the novel. In this scene Hester is forced to suffer alone facing first her past and finally her present the scene is clever in
that it reveals Hester’s past, as she was before receiving the infamous letter. It ends with
Universitas Sumatera Utara
xl her realization that she must now deal with the letter. “ these were her realities-all else
vanished.” After Hester returns to her prison cell, she remains agitated by the days events, pearl
is also upset and start crying. The jailer therefore allows a physicians to enter and try to calm them down.Roger Chillingworth, pretending to be a physician, enter and mixes a
position for, who soon falls asleep. He also makes a drink for Hester, who is afraid that he is trying to kill her nevertheless, she drinks his positions and sits down on the bed.
Chillingworth tells her that he forgives her, and accept the blame for having marred younger than himself. He ask Hester who the father of pearls, but she refuses to tell him,
Chillingworth then laughs and says “He bears no letter of infamy wrought into him, chillingworth then laughs and says
“ he bears no letter of infamy wrought into his garment, as thou dost, but I shared it on his heart”
She could no longer borrow from the nature, to help her through the present grief. To- morrow would bring its own trial with it, so would the
next day, and so would the next: each its own trials and yet the very same that was now.” Hawthorne 1962:67
Moreover, the puritans very cruel in manner. They treated a sinful man so inhuman. They persecuted Hester Prynne and her daughter too. The punishment that be
given to Hester Prynne was so heavy, as the following quation describe the condition and the suffering of Hester Prynne.
Lonely as was Hester’s situation, without a friend on earth who dared to show himself, she, however incurered to risk of want. She possesed an
art that sufficed, even in a land that afforded comparatively little scope for exercises, to supply food for her triving infant and herself
Hawthorne, 1962: 70
Universitas Sumatera Utara
xli
3.3 Hypocrisy
