Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: Analysis of chapter 16: A Forest Walk

In Chapter 16 of The Scarlet Letter, "A Forest Walk," Nathaniel

Hawthorne uses the majority of the passage to show how Pearl and Hester act when out of the public eye. Also, he uses the theme of nature to show what Pearl is like, who she really is, and how she is accepted by nature.

In the beginning of this passage, Pearl and Hester are walking in the forest because Hester wants to reveal Chillingworth's true identity to Dimmesdale and she knows she will catch him in the forest, away from society. Hester chooses to speak with Dimmesdale in the forest, not only because is away from the townspeople, but also because she didn't have to be known as the wearer of the scarlet letter; she was Hester Prynne, mother

of Pearl Prynne. The forest was a place for escape, a place where Hester could be the person she was before the scarlet letter. The forest was Hester's source of liberation because she made her own rules and she didn't follow the ways of the other members in society. The forest, and thus Hester, followed nature's rules, not societies.

During their walk to meet Dimmesdale, Pearl encounters a "magic

circle" and "caught the sunshine." The circle Pearl stood in was like a break in the tress where light would filter through. Pearl represents the break in the darkness of Hester where light could filter through. Pearl was the only light in Hester's life and that was how Hawthorne represented it. Because Hester had no light in her life and it had all faded, she was unable to catch the light and it "vanished." Pearl, however, was able to "[absorb]" the light her mother had failed to capture into herself. Even though she was thought to be a child of the "Black Man," Pearl was still described as a "lonely child" with all the "vivacity" of someone who has never experienced corruption or misfortune. The light "lingered about"

her and gave a "gleam about her path" which gives a hint of heavenly brightness. Hester felt that even if they should "plunge into some gloomier shade," Pearl would still hold onto her light because her had a "new and untransmitted vigor" in her nature.

Hester felt that Pearl had "not the disease of sadness" because of her "wild energy" and "doubtful charm." Hester felt that Pearl had escaped the "disease" everyone else had failed to avoid, especially Hester herself. Her diseases and ailments are the scarlet letter and, in a way, Pearl. But Pearl was able to escape any threat of any disease, which, this accomplishment, left a "hard, metallic luster" to her character. By using the word "luster," Hawthorne refers to the earlier reference about how Pearl "absorbed" the light, further emphasizing the appearance of a

heavenly glow. This light and reflection of light represents the

innocence Pearl epitomizes. But Hester still felt a hint of a doubt about Pearl's complete innocence because, even though she wanted a grief to "deeply touch her" and "humanize" her and "make her capable of sympathy," she felt that

there was "time enough" for "little Pearl." Hester feels that Pearl still is not completely innocent because of background of her entire being and because of all the talk she hears about her mother and the Black Man.

Hester looked on at Pearl in the sunlight and wants her to come a "little way within the wood" so that can rest. Hester was trying to get away from the light and the fact that it repelled her. But Pearl didn't want to rest and wanted instead to hear a story about the Black Man. When she asked to hear the story, she asked her mother "half earnestly, half mischievously," as if she had a hidden reason for wanting to hear a story. When she asked, Pearl grabbed her mother's gown and looked up at her, giving the reader the

mental picture of a child grabbing the hem of her mother's dress and looking up at her with those innocent eyes and the mothe rbeing unable to say "no." Again, this imagery gives off the appearance of Pearl's innocence. Pearl's underlying question is soon revealed when, after explaining a few things of what she knows of the Black Man to Hester, she asks her mom if she has ever met him. Hester avoids her question by asking her where she had heard these stories. Pearl mentioned a story about when

the people signed their names and the Black Man places his "mark on their bosoms," hinting to her mother that she thinks Hester signed away her life to the Black Man. After more pestering from Pearl, Hester reveals that she has once met the Black Man and the scarlet letter is indeed his "mark."

Hester leaves it at that and gives no further details about the Black

Man or who he is to Pearl or the reader. The lack of details leaves the reader to speculate about just whom it was that she met. I feel that Hawthorne wants the reader to believe that Chillingworth is Hester's "Black Man" and the real scarlet letter, his "mark," is actually Pearl.

When Pearl and Hester continue conversing and walking through the woods,

the path they walk represents the path that they have already traveled. When Pearl becomes "lost.amid the bewilderment" of the forest, Hawthorne is trying to portray how Pearl sees her life. The boulder "covered over with gray lichens" represents the town and how firmly rooted it is in its ways. The rock is the town as a whole and the covering of the lichens represents the cover over the eyes of the people. The Puritan people have been hand-fed their lives and how they are supposed to live. They have never had the opportunity to live as they want because they have no idea of what else is out there in the world.

The "giant trees" and "boulders of granite" represent the actual

townspeople and the ones in charge. The "small brook" running through the forest represents Pearl, hearing "[whispered] tales" from the "heart of the old forest." The people talk of Hester and about her past actions and the result of her actions, Pearl. The "heart" of the forest is the connection of laws and religion, the basis of Puritan belief and life. The "young child" who lived an "infancy without playfulness" is the voice of Pearl, looking at the life handed to her and the life she years for. Pearl even shows this longing by talking to the brook and asking it why it is so sad and to not be "sighing and murmuring" all the time. It even says that "Pearl resembled the brook" because the "current of her life" came from a spring and was "mysterious and shadowed [heavily] with gloom." However, Peal has some happiness, as she "danced and sparkled," unlike the brook.

The actual dictionary meaning of brook says that it is a spring of water, but also that it means to put up with, to endure, and to tolerate. Pearl is a brook, in that Hester has to "tolerate" Pearl and put up with her. Pearl is not really a burden to Hester, but rather Hester has to bear the existence of Pearl and see what her sin produced. Even though Pearl came into existence because of a mortal sin and Hester has to bear that sin everyday just by seeing Pearl, her daughter is the only light in Hester's life and she is willing "to put up with" that grief.

Pearle asks her mother what the brook is saying and Hester respond that is it "telling me of [my sorrow]." The brook is able to speak to Hester and tell her the story of her life because the brook is Pearl and Pearl is her life. Again, the brook represents the burden that Pearl is to Hester. Hester realizes that her daughter is exactly like the brook, in that it tells her what she did and what was the result of her actions (having an affair with Dimmesdale and becoming pregnant with Pearl).

When Hester hears footsteps approaching them and asks Pearl to "betake thyself to play," so she may speak with Dimmesdale, Pearl asks her mother if it is the Black Man who approaches and wants to look at him if it is the Black Man. Hester replies that it is the minister, Dimmesdale, that approaches and Pearl notices that he carries his hand over his heart as if the Black Man "set his mark" there. The ironic thing about Pearl asking her question is that he wants to know if the minister of the town signed away his life to the Black Man, the devil. She seems to not understand the

difference between godly people and people who follow the works of evil, and this unawareness of the line between good and evil is the source of her question. She also wonders why, if he does have a mark set in place by the Black Man, he does not wear it on the outside like her mother. Neither of the adults signed the Black Book but they both bear the symbol of their sin, both outwardly and inwardly, but only one person is known for her sin. Pearl only guesses that he is trying to hid his "mark" and does not know

for sure, but in the end of the novel, Dimmesdale does in fact have a mark and reveals it to the whole town. Pearl had been described earlier as a child of remarkable ingenuity because she was very intuitive about things that were kept in secret or that no one knew a child would be able to understand. She knew the source of her mother's A and she wondered when she would be receiving hers. She knew of the minister's hidden mark and she knew that it was in fact hidden. Because of her curious perception, the image of Pearl is further taken to the level of superhuman and supernatural.

When Pearl could not tell who it was coming towards them, Hester told her that it was the minister and to look "through the trees." Going back to the idea that the trees represent the people of the town, Pearl was unable to see Dimmesdale because he blended in with the trees. She was unable to differentiate the identity of Dimmesdale because she could not tell the difference between one person and the trees, the other people. This shows that Dimmesdale blended in with the other people, the trees, and Pearl was unable to distinguish what was what. However, when Hester pointed out where and who he was, Pearl was able to accept the existence of Dimmesdale and to recognize him as a person like herself and Hester.

This passage, in relation to the rest of the book, is a very important

part because it takes Pearl and Hester out of the rest of society and allows the reader to see how they act when out of the public eye. Right before the passage, Pearl puts an "A "on her chest made out of eel-grass and pretends that she is wearing an A, just like her mother. She asks Hester why it is that she wears the scarlet letter and Hester refuses to reveal the real reason. Pearl declares herself innocent until the day she herself will also wear a scarlet letter of some sort. Hester tells her she will never wear one and to run and catch the sunlight "before it is gone." This entire passage is about the difference in Hester and her attitude and appearance when away from society and how Pearl reacts to it. Pearl frees herself from the ways her mother taught herself to be in front of other people and releases all the built-up frustration she feels when she wants to act as she was born to. Pearl asks her mother questions and talk to her mother in ways that she would never do in front of anyone else and she does this because the forest is a place of freedom for both of them. They are under the eyes of the forest and God and they are there to please no one but themselves.

When Pearl asks her mother why Dimmesdale carries over his heart as he does, Hester silences her and tells her to never ask that again. The question Pearl asks is one of great importance because it shows her acute perception to the fact of Dimmesdale's participation in the sin Hester committed. Everyone else in the town only thought that he carried his hand, and sometimes his Bible, over his heart because he was a frail man who was often sick. He does this because he knows that he has a scarlet letter over his heart, just as Hester does, only his is invisible to everyone. Dimmesdale knows his sin and he forced a scarlet letter upon himself and he bears the weight of his sin to the point of trying to hide an invisible mark. Pearl's question foreshadows to the end of the book, when Dimmesdale reveals his big secret and shows the town his secret mark. Pearl has some sort of knowledge of Dimmesdale's involvement in Hester's wearing of the "A' and can only guess at it; she guesses right.

People think of Pearl as a "demon child" is heavily contradicted by

Hawthorne's use of symbolism in her name and appearance. A pearl is a precious gem and is considered highly valuable and beautiful. People call her a demon child because of the circumstances of how she was born and how she sometimes acted. But she shows that she is inherently good because of how she absorbs the sunshine in the forest. Hester is unable to absorb the light, not because she is evil, but rather because she believes herself to be evil and forces these thoughts upon herself. Pearl knows not the difference between good and evil and she remains unbiased to the ways of the world, except for her curiosity about the Black Man. Pearl is able to take in the light because she puts out a light of her own; she is the light of Hester's world. She is unable to lose her light even when plunging into "some gloomier shade." Pearl is Hawthorne's way of bringing some sort of goodness into this story of sin and punishment. Pearl is the divine being that replaces all the sin that has occurred in the story and she counteracts the sins of her mother to make everything right.