"It now writhed in convulsions of pain, and was a forcible type, in its little frame, of the moral agony which Hester Prynne had Bourne throughout the day." - The Scarlet Letter (49)
During this time of the novel, Hester had gone back to the prison with Pearl after a long and hard day in the market place. The baby was in pain and needed a doctor. The reason for Pearl's agony was the because she drank Hester's anguished and disparity filled breast milk. The quote shows that Hester did a good job in hiding all of the anger and humiliation, but she could not completely ignore it. Because she kept everything inside, she was starting to affect her own child's health. Poor Pearl was born into an unfair and cruel world. Now it is understood that Pearl will be discriminated against and would not fit in as part of the town because of who her mother is and because of how she came into the world. Later on in the story, Pearl does have a hard time with all the kids calling her terrible names. Not only is it mentally disturbing to be called names, but I feel like it is worse when they also hurt Hester physically and mentally. In some cases, Pearl ended up fighting off the kids for that specific reason. The difference between the other children in town and Pearl was obvious in that which Pearl was much more intelligent at only three years old. That is one of the upsides of being born because of sin, she was not taught to be ignorant and judgemental from day one. She was born different, but a good different.
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