The Scarlet Child

Ill-legalism's Close-Up Look at a Classic:

The Scarlet Letter

HAWTHORNE’S UNEXPECTED AGENT OF REDEMPTION

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is known for his literary crusade against religious hypocrisy and unbridled legalism. For that reason, a look at what he had to say even from the mid-nineteenth century is worth our time. Though most people are at least familiar with the story line of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne conveyed more than a negative critique of religion—something you may not realize from your high school or college literature class when dealing with this book. Hawthorne included an unexpected agent of redemption in the child--a type of wild, unpredictable Christ.

A descendent of John Hathorne (sic)—one of the judges at the witch trials in Salem—Hawthorne paints through words a dark picture of human nature and shame-based attitudes, especially within religious people. He appears to know them well. His stories such as “Young Goodman Brown,” and The Scarlet Letter serve as classics in the classroom, teaching about Puritan shame, fear, hypocrisy, and oppressive religious societies. Yet, he includes an unexpected agent of redemption in his novel about disgrace and dishonor. Often missed by those who focus primarily on the gloom-filled prose about humiliation in The Scarlet Letter, the child named Pearl, the product of adultery, provides a redemptive thread throughout the story.

The main character, Hester Prynne, must publicly bear the shame of wearing a letter “A” for committing adultery.  To emphasize the hypocrisy of such a sentence, Hawthorne reveals to the reader that it is the Puritan minister, Arther Dimmesdale, who fathered this child out of wedlock with Hester. No one knows he is the father, and Hester chooses to bear the shame of wearing the scarlet letter alone. Yet, she is not really alone in her public shame, for the innocent child they produce, who stands by her side, is marked with shame as well.

While some may see Pearl as simply a reflection of the struggle of her parents, she is an antithesis to their societal and moral obligations. She is wild, out of their control, and is evidence that the consequences of their adultery can never be contained, yet neither can their producing this child be seen as entirely without redemption. While her parents try hard not to change, Pearl is an agent of redemptive change—a type of redeemer.

A rosebush stands outside the prison door where Hester has been confined. It is fitting that it is outside the door and wild, since Pearl, like the rose, could not be restricted in any human prison. She is called a Red Rose (97) and, when asked by the Puritans—who had theological accuracy in mind—if she knew who had made her, “the child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that grew by the prison-door” (99). Her response is viewed with suspicion. Similar to the Pharisees, who saw Jesus as an illegitimate Messiah, not the promised son of a virgin, the Puritans cannot see beyond their own judgments. Hawthorne adroitly hints of the Christ who was also not made and who announced, “Before Abraham was born, I AM!” (John 8:58)

The girl’s mother named her Pearl, ‘as being of great price—purchased with all she had—her mother’s only treasure!” (80). She is a bit of heaven—for a “pearl of great price” references the biblical parable of finding the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:45-46) and by extension, Jesus Christ, its King. From the beginning, Pearl is an agent of change for her mother. She is a lovely child, a treasure, a rose, who is placed on Hester’s bosom in direct contrast to the scarlet letter, a child “whose place was on that same dishonored bosom” (80).

The situation with Pearl’s father is different from her mother’s. Her existence nearly destroys him, and she is busy showing him his shame whenever they meet. She throws prickly burrs to Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale (117) while she threw flowers at her mother’s scarlet letter (87). In the woods, she refuses to go over the brook when he is there, uncomfortable with his presence. She is out of his control, and out of his mother’s control when he is around—she extends grace to those who confess their sin, seeking atonement; but she is an uncomfortable, piercing reminder to those who attempt to hide their sin.

No matter how much her parents try to stay apart, Pearl brings them together, “In her was visible the tie that united them. She had been offered to the world, these seven years past, as the living hieroglyphic, in which was revealed the secret they so darkly sought to hide…and Pearl was the oneness of their being” (180). In this way, she defies their purpose, is a thorn, and moves towards exposing them. Shame tries to hide, and Hester had given in to this codependent relationship of hiding Dimmesdale’s shame. But Pearl brings it to the light. She tells the truth about what she sees, and unwittingly wants to expose them in the marketplace. She is not happy with the situation until her father owns his sin, and owns her.

Hester eventually takes on the role of an angel, visiting the sick, standing apart in a haloed distance from the people. To some the scarlet letter no longer stands for adultery, but comes to mean “Able,” now associated with comfort and ability. In the end, Hester lives on, is able to cope with life, learns from it, and endures. Just as the Roman symbol of shame and ignominy was transformed into the redemptive cross of Christianity, Hester’s scarlet letter took on new meaning under the one who bore it.

On the other hand, Dimmesdale must keep up false appearances. He is so involved in this deception that he sometimes believes it himself. He has meticulously watched out for his own interests and reputation. Referring to his church, he states, “At least, they all say of me that I leave no public duty unperformed, nor ill performed!” (188).

In this novel, Hawthorne exposes the devastating results of unchecked religious authority, but he doesn’t stop there. His story is not simply about the repressive shame which marks this Puritanical, distorted community. He provides glimpses that Pearl is a type of Christ—who has been called the “Rose of Sharon.” She comments that she had not been made. She bears the shame of a sin which she did not commit. She pushes her father towards confession, not for condemnation, but for his physical, emotional and spiritual health. She is the bright spot in a world of woundedness. She exposes the legalistic narrow-mindedness of those around her, and she overcomes. Unmanageable and wild, she reminds us that the Redeemer is not so concerned about propriety and rules. He shares in our shame. He dances on graves.

by Rachel Ramer