In the beginning of chapter 5 Hester Prynne is released from prison. The only thing Hester keeps thinking in this chapter is how the scarlet A is constantly "mocking" her. I guess in a way it kind of his taunting her because she still has the guilt in the back of her mind about her sin. The A keeps reminding her of that and of course, so does Pearl. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be constantly reminded about something you already feel terrible about. Not only does the scarlet letter stitched to her breast remind her of what she did but everybody around her talks and gossips about it. People stare and whisper.
Because Hester is alone and shunned she makes a living by doing needle work. Her clothing becomes so "fashionable" that many important people in the town are wearing her designs. I think this will foreshadow for something further along in the book. Everyone loves Hester's designs, so maybe they love her scarlet letter A? Even though every kind of person in town is wearing her clothing: rich and poor, they still look down on her and think highly of themselves when they are around her. This irritates me; they sin just as much. Why should they be better than Hester?
In chapter 6 we get a deeper and better look at Pearl and her personality. Pearl is a very loving and beautiful little girl. Her passionate personality attracts everybody and proves Hester's theory of Pearl being different, wrong. But Hester still thinks of Pearl as more of a spirit than human. She keeps describing her as an "elvish" child and Pearl doesn't obey rules like a normal Puritan child should but she also doesn't take insults from the Puritan children. I find Pearl to be very smart for such a little girl. When Pearl asks Hester who sent Pearl to her mother, Hester screams, "They Heavenly Father sent thee!" When she says this, she hesitates a little and Pearl notices this. She already senses something her mother is keeping from her. She senses that Hester is not sure if Pearl is normal, which goes back to when townspeople told Hester that Pearl was of "demon offspring" and not of a "human couple."
Because Hester is alone and shunned she makes a living by doing needle work. Her clothing becomes so "fashionable" that many important people in the town are wearing her designs. I think this will foreshadow for something further along in the book. Everyone loves Hester's designs, so maybe they love her scarlet letter A? Even though every kind of person in town is wearing her clothing: rich and poor, they still look down on her and think highly of themselves when they are around her. This irritates me; they sin just as much. Why should they be better than Hester?
In chapter 6 we get a deeper and better look at Pearl and her personality. Pearl is a very loving and beautiful little girl. Her passionate personality attracts everybody and proves Hester's theory of Pearl being different, wrong. But Hester still thinks of Pearl as more of a spirit than human. She keeps describing her as an "elvish" child and Pearl doesn't obey rules like a normal Puritan child should but she also doesn't take insults from the Puritan children. I find Pearl to be very smart for such a little girl. When Pearl asks Hester who sent Pearl to her mother, Hester screams, "They Heavenly Father sent thee!" When she says this, she hesitates a little and Pearl notices this. She already senses something her mother is keeping from her. She senses that Hester is not sure if Pearl is normal, which goes back to when townspeople told Hester that Pearl was of "demon offspring" and not of a "human couple."