Glimmer
“Had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that had originally overshadowed it…” (pg 42). Survived, can be known as the keyword in this beginning passage, or better yet the whole book. The ability to survive not only the mere lack of sunlight, but for The Scarlet Letter the preserving life through hatred and extreme prejudice in a community who has no remorse for those who make mistake. There is some good that can be found in an evil person or situation, there is always a glimmer of light upcoming in the next horizon. Hester, Pearl, Dimmesdale, even Chillingworth, all have faults. In each and every one of them they also have good intention. Explaining the major theme “the rosebush” will show how to survive.
Hidden beauty is something in a person that one must find without judging them on first glance. Unlike the Puritan society who judges Hester just because of the article she is forced to wear on her shirt. Just like on a rose, people who are positive see the utter exquisiteness of the petals and see it all as something beautiful. The ones who cannot see pass persons faults can only judge the rose by its thorns… When two wrongs make a right, we as a society start to question ourselves. In the case of Pearl, the prejudice Puritan society should have taken a step back and gazed in the miracle before them. Dimmesdale and Hester broke many laws and moral codes to create something like Pearl. We can relate to the parents of Pearl as the prison itself, and she as the rosebush. The thorns could be classified as the means to cross the line into making Pearl, but the final result was gorgeous.
“.. in the eyes of the very men who spoke thus, the scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun’s bosom” (pg 193). This proves that the cross that shows that men could never even dream of loving a nun has the same effect on the letter A on Hester’s shirt. Following the ideal of survival,...