I think Pear
begins to display the quality of intuition even before she is 7. It starts in- whenseems to
only recognize her mother because of the scarlet letter. As a baby and a small child it is
referenced that she is frequently touching it and responding to it, almost as if she knows and
understands its power over her mother.
As she gets older, she starts to show
signs of understanding things about people in the rest of the colony. She is unafraid to chase
the children to attempt to throw rocks at her and her mother as they walk through town. When
asked at the Governor's house (loosely quoting here) "Where did you come from/Who made
you?" (this said to see ifwas raising her child in proper catechism), Pearl responds with
something to the effect of: "I was not born at all. I was plucked from the rose bush that
grows beside the prison door." What a response from a 7 year old.
It is
also right about this time that Pearl begins to repeatedly question her mother about the scarlet
letter. And this question always comes coupled with another, (again, loosely quoting) "Why
do you [Hester] wear the scarlet letter on your breast" and "Why does the minister
hold his hand over his heart?" She also asks why the minister is always seen with
.
Rather than coming across as innocent questions, these seem meant to be
rhetorical. It is as if only Pearl recognizes the answers the lie in these questions, and by
asking them, she is attempting to reveal the answers, rather than her
curiosity.
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