Mirrors and Masks

I chose the passage on page 94 that starts with "Hester looked..." and ending with "...hidden behind it."

This was passage that I was really hoping to discuss in class because the symbolism is so interesting. In it, Hester looks at a suit of armor in Governor Bellingham's home and is caught off-guard by the distored image that appears in the covex mirror that is the breastplate. The scarlet letter which is the symbol of her sin (as much as Pearl is) has been blown so out of proportion as to make it so it now dominates the image of her, almost as if she is "behind it."

This distortion is a representation of what has become Boston's view of Hester. They see her first as the scarlet letter, as an adulteress, rather than as a person. All of the views have been skewed so that the letter no longer lies as a punishment, but is the person!

Another interesting thing to note is that it is Pearl, who continually seems to show an uncanny sense of the truth of things, that points out the suit of armor. When Hester is taken aback by the distortion, Pearl acknowledges that a similar image is seen in the helmet of the suit. This repetition of the image acknowledges how that the letter is really all anyone sees of Hester and discredits Hester's own justification (though it really is why the image is the way it is) that the "convex mirror," the breastplate, is what is causing the image.

Pearl's ability to sense the truth always seems to be an advantage to her mother in some way, shape, or form. When the governor, ministers, and Reverend Dimmesdale walk in, this same sense that pointed out the "mask" of adultery that Hester wears makes it so she shys away from Mr. Wilson (one of Hester's persecuters) but is comforted by Dimmesdale (Hester's lover). There are MANY more instances that we've discussed, but it would get a little repetitive to list them. I just find this particular instance of Pearl pointing out to Hester that nobody actually looks at Hester any more, only the letter, particularly interesting.