Quote #3

In chapter 12 of The Scarlet Letter, Pearl and her mother, Hester, were talking to Mr. Dimmesdale. Pearl is consistently asking Dimmesdale to stand in public with her and her mother but he keeps turning her down saying he will at a later time. While they are all three standing together the narrator says, “There is witchcraft in little Pearl’s eyes; and her face, as she glanced upward at the minister, wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elfish.” Most of the townspeople think Pearl is some kind of evil and this quote would support that. However, she was born into an unfortunate situation where nothing is her fault, so she has every right to act the way she does.

This quote explains how Pearl doesn’t just act like she has a demon in her; she also just looks like she has a demon in her. The townspeople already thought Pearl acted strange and now, as said by this quote, she even looks different and evil. This quote explains some of Pearl’s character. In reality, Pearl is a lot like her mother. She is different and has known that from the beginning just like Hester.

The way the narrator describes Pearl, especially in this quote, you could only think of her as pure evil. On the other hand, how could she be evil? She is only a little girl that was born into a bad situation that isn’t her fault. She never does anything that hurts anyone or does anything that could potentially harm someone. She has to cope with her problems some how and acting the way she does helps her go on with life and there’s nothing wrong with that. Pearl never did anything wrong and this quote is sort of misleading and makes the reader think badly about Pearl even though she is innocent.