Chapter 8

I find this chapter to be very significant to the story. Pearl is considered to be a 'demon child,' because of her lack of religious knowledge and teachings. Bellingham asks Pearl several religious questions to test her knowledge, however, Pearl responds in disgust and dislike. This does'nt please Governor Bellingham, Chillingsworth and Wilson, and they find it necessary to take Pearl away from Hester for 'Hester's sake.' Apalled, Hester turns to Dimmesdale for help, begging him to tell the men to allow her to keep her child. Dimmesdale says that 'God sent Pearl as a gift and a curse,' and the men agree to not separate mother and daughter. Hester is incredibly thankful to Dimmesdale for this act and places his hand on her cheek. I think this is significant, because once again Dimmesdale and Hester are reunited, however, this time in front of Chillingsworth.

Dimmesdale and Hester? Again?

I am definitely 100% behind Hester and Dimmesdale reunited. They both have endured many struggles and tribulations throughout the years, and are viewed as outcasts to society. We can tell that Dimmesdale is hurt by all of the events, and is deeply saddened by his actions, as seen in the line "And, mother, he has his hand over his heart! Is it because, when the minister wrote his name in the book, the Black Man set his mark in that place?" Dimmesdale never removed his hand from his heart, I believe this is because he is still emotionally unstable from all the past events.

Hester has been publicly shamed and has been out casted, however nobody knows about Dimmesdale's wrongdoings, and he seems to be the one most affected. The first time we see Hester emotionally disturbed is when we see Dimmesdale outpouring his sad story to her. I believe Hawthorne does this to illustrate human emotion, that humans feel more for each other more than any situation can.

Transcendentalism

I was inspired to research transcendentalism because of its central theme of rebellion! There are many transcendentalist writers, such as, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson (Which we have studied). All of these writers, were rebelling against the general state of culture and society. Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed the thoughts of Transcendentalism in the essay 'Nature.' Emerson broke away from the beliefs of his predecessors by stating, 'He sees the world as it really is. He looks on the temporal in the light of the Eternal. "So he comes to look on the world with new eyes." So he learns the high truths which nature teaches.' The 'he' Emerson talks about, refers to society as a people, and he is pushing society to be open-minded and subtle. Ralph Waldo Emerson also advocated transcendentalism by capturing crowds with his captivating speeches, such as 'The American Scholar.' In this speech he compares the relationship between an 'American Scholar,' and 'Nature.' Emerson heavily stresses 'man thinking,' not thinking man. Man thinking is the belief that man should see the world clearly for himself, rather than be biased from another man or group's thinking. Man must come to an understanding of the world through fresh eyes, and make decisions based upon these views. The movement of transcendentalism fills me with enthsiasm, I feel that further researching this topic will be a life lesson for me, as well as a great opportunity to better understand American Literature.