Chapter 15: Hester and Pearl

-Hester hates Chillingworth and cannot believe she married him
~“She marveled how she could ever have been wrought upon to marry him! (159)
~“Yes, I hate him!” “He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!” (159)

-While Hester was talking with Chillingworth, Pearl entertained herself by throwing pebbles at birds, looking at her reflection, and pretending to be a mermaid.

-Hoping her mother would tell her what the letter meant, Pearl used seaweed to write the letter “A” on her chest.
~“The child bent her chin upon her breast, and contemplated this device with strange interest; even as if the one only thing for which she had been sent into the world was to make out its hidden import” (161).

-Pearl is eager to find the meaning of the letter. She connects the rubbing of Reverend Dimmesdale’s heart to the scarlet letter.
~“It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart!” (161)

-When asked for the meaning, Hester wanted to share with her daughter, but thinks she is too young. Pearl, not satisfied with the answer she receives, continues to ask this question until her mother threatens her.
~“What know I of the minister’s heart? And as for the scarlet letter, I wear it for the sake of its gold-thread” (163).
~“Hester Prynne had never before been false to the symbol on her bosom” (163).
~ “Hold thy tongue, naughty child!” “Do not tease me, else I shall shut thee into the dark closet!” (164)