Ramsey's reading The Scarlet Letter and blogging about it! Catch up with Parts 1, 2, and 3!
I've read through your comments, and you've all had some really great things to say about Blogging the Scarlet Letter. Some of you love it, some of you don't, but one thing's clear: this blog needs sound effects. I hope you enjoy this bold new direction!
Chapter 7 - The Governor's Hall
Ding-dong! Hester Prynne is visiting Governor Bellingham to drop off a pair of ornate gloves for him to wear to a fancy governor party. However, Hester has another, secret reason for dropping in on the Governor. As it turns out, the townspeople of Boston read my last post and believe that Pearl should be taken away from her. Boing!
Unfortunately, the townspeople can't agree on exactly why Pearl should be taken away. See, some people believe Pearl is a demon-child. If she is the spawn of Satan, then she should be locked away somewhere before she gets old enough to eat everyone's souls. That's option one. Option two, which some other people believe, is that Pearl is a regular, run-of-the-mill, human kid with a stick up her &@# an attitude problem, and should have a mom who isn't the most hated person in town so that she can grow up to be a good Puritan citizen. "Wah-wah" trumpet sound.
Hawthorne briefly flashes back to earlier in the day to show us how the townspeople treat Hester and Pearl. On their way there, a group of children threw mud at them. Splat! This is just a short couple of paragraphs, and I may not have mentioned it if it didn't have the best line of dialogue in the entire book.
OK, if you were going to throw mud at someone...oh, right, you wouldn't do something like that. OK, your bad friend. If your bad friend was going to throw mud at someone, what would he/she say? Nothing? "Here's some mud," perhaps? Check out what these dudes say:
"Behold, verily, there is the woman of the scarlet letter: and of a truth, moreover, there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side! Come, therefore, and let us fling mud at them!"
That's the actual quote. These people had to solve logic proofs before they could do anything. Hester would have been around the block by the time this kid finished getting his idea out. Anyway, Pearl, who again, is only three, shakes her fist at these kids and chases them away before they can do anything. They then walk happily to the Governor's mansion.
The Governor's mansion looks like a palace compared to Hester's cabin in the woods, and both she and Pearl are amazed at the lavish decorations. Pearl calls her mother over to look at the giant suit of armor, which would probably be overkill if you were defending yourself from mud attacks. Pearl tells her mom to check out her reflection, and Hester is shocked to see the "A" dominating her appearance. Suddenly, Pearl begins to scream for a rose from the bush outside the window (the screaming counts as a sound effect, so just imagine that for me, thanks), but she calms down when a group of mysterious men enter the room... DUN DUNNNNNN DAH!
Chapter 8 - The Elf-Child and the Minister
In the last entry I complained about the chapter titles, but I would like to take that back now because "The Elf-Child and the Minister" is just a great combination of words.
The Governor, Reverend Dimmesdale, Reverend Wilson and creepy husband Chillingworth enter the room and immediately begin talking about Pearl, calling her "a little bird" and a demon child. Tweet tweet! ROAR! Hester basically says "Hey! I'm right here!" and the men begin to question her about why she should keep the kid.
Hester tells them that she is the perfect mother for this kid because she has a constant reminder of what happens when you don't behave like a responsible adult (the letter "A" on her chest. Pay attention.), but the men aren't convinced. Reverend Wilson kneels down to interview Pearl and make sure she's being raised properly. As soon as he touches Pearl, she jumps away and stands on a window ledge. Woosh!
Wilson doesn't give up, though, and asks Pearl "who made her," expecting an answer like, "God made me, now please leave me alone and let me live with my mom, thanks." However, Pearl says that she was never made and that her mom picked her from a bush like a rose. This would probably be a perfectly cute thing for a 3-year-old to say if she were to say it anywhere else other than the trial to determine if she gets to stay with her mom.
Hester jumps up, frantic, and tells Dimmesdale to speak on her behalf, and he does. He says that clearly this kid is meant to be punishing Hester, so they should probably just do what God says. (He may have worded it a little better than I did.) The other men are swayed by Dimmesdale's words and agree to let Pearl stay with Hester. Applause. Chillingworth takes this opportunity to continue being a creep and says that they should reopen the investigation to figure out who Hester's lover was. Everybody else tells him to shut up.
As they leave the governor's mansion, Mistress Hibbins, the craziest character in this book (and that's saying something) invites Hester to come to a witches' gathering. Hester tells her that if they had taken away Pearl, she'd say yes, but since they didn't, get on your broom and vamoose. WOOSH! (I already used that one, didn't I?) The narrator points out that Pearl has saved her mother's soul from Satan's temptations.
Then some kid comes over and gives a three-hour lecture as to why he's going to throw a pinecone at Hester's head.
I don't know about these sound effects, guys, but if you think that's the way Hawthorne intended his book to be read, I'll keep putting them in. Until, next time, Sparklers!
Do you think Pearl should stay with Hester? Would you have thrown mud at Pearl?
Post a comment!