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“Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you.
It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of some thing on your bosom. Now see! Here is, playing, a good way off.
Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!"
"Nor ever will, my child, I hope," said Hester.
'"And why not, mother?' asked Pearl, stopping short, just at the beginning of
her race. 'Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown?"
"Run away, child," answered her mother, "and catch the sunshine! It will
soon be gone."
Pearl set forth, at a great pace, and, as Hester smiled to perceive, did actually
catch the sunshine, and stood laughing in the midst of it, all brightened by its splendor, and scintillating with the vivacity
excited by rapid motion. The light lingered about the lonely child, as if glad of such a playmate, until her mother had drawn
almost nigh enough to step into the magic circle too.
-The Scarlett
Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
pgs. 165 and 166
In this scene, Hester
and Pearl are in the forest where light is peeping in and out through the trees. The imagery used by Hawthorne shows how Pearl runs about chasing "the sunshine" and we are able to picture the youg girl chasing the
sun in our imaginations. By using the words "laughter" and "magic" the playful atmosphere between the characters rolls out
toward the reader. By using a playful tone, the audience is given a chance to see the joy that exists between Hester and her
child and draws the audience in to continue.
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