XIV. The Child at the Brook-Side Practice Quiz — The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: XIV. The Child at the Brook-Side
What are Hester and Dimmesdale doing as the chapter opens?
They are sitting together on a mossy tree-trunk, watching Pearl approach from across a brook.
How has Pearl decorated herself while playing in the forest?
She has woven wildflowers into her hair and adorned herself with wreathed foliage.
What fear does Dimmesdale confess to Hester about Pearl?
He fears that his own features are partly repeated in Pearl's face and that the world might recognize him as her father.
What term does Hawthorne use to describe Pearl as a symbol of her parents' secret?
He calls her a "living hieroglyphic" in which the secret they sought to hide was revealed.
What does Dimmesdale say the brook represents?
He says it is "the boundary between two worlds" and wonders if Pearl is an elfish spirit forbidden to cross running water.
Why does Pearl refuse to cross the brook to her mother?
Because Hester has removed the scarlet letter from her bosom, and Pearl will not accept this changed version of her mother.
What gesture does Pearl make while standing on the far side of the brook?
She extends her small forefinger and points at her mother's breast, where the scarlet letter should be.
How does Pearl's reflection in the brook behave?
It mirrors every one of Pearl's gestures exactly—frowning, pointing, and stamping its foot—reinforcing the doubling imagery.
What happens when Pearl erupts into a tantrum in the forest?
She shrieks so piercingly that the woods reverberate on all sides, as if a hidden multitude were lending her sympathy.
What does Hester realize is the cause of Pearl's distress?
Pearl misses something she has always seen her mother wear—the scarlet letter.
What is Dimmesdale's habitual gesture that he makes when Pearl looks at him?
His hand involuntarily steals over his heart, a gesture so habitual it has become involuntary.
What physical transformation occurs when Hester puts the scarlet letter back on?
Her beauty and womanly warmth depart "like fading sunshine" and a gray shadow falls across her.
What does Pearl do immediately after crossing the brook and embracing Hester?
She kisses her mother's brow, both cheeks, and then pointedly kisses the scarlet letter itself.
What question does Pearl ask about Dimmesdale that reveals her intuition?
She asks, "Will he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?"
What does Pearl ask about Dimmesdale's habitual gesture?
She asks, "And will he always keep his hand over his heart?"
How does Pearl respond when Dimmesdale kisses her forehead?
She runs to the brook and bathes her forehead until the kiss is completely washed off.
What theme does Pearl's demand that Dimmesdale walk publicly with them illustrate?
The tension between private penance and public accountability—Pearl demands honest, open acknowledgment rather than secret affection.
What does Hawthorne mean by "an evil deed invests itself with the character of doom"?
That the consequences of sin become permanent and inescapable, clinging to the sinner as inevitably as the scarlet letter returns to Hester.
How does Hawthorne describe Pearl's reflected image compared to the real Pearl?
The reflected image is described as "more refined and spiritualized than the reality," suggesting Pearl's symbolic meaning transcends her physical presence.
What literary device does Hawthorne use when sunlight falls on Pearl while the adults sit in shadow?
Pathetic fallacy—the natural environment externalizes the moral contrast between Pearl's innocence and the adults' guilt.
What does Pearl represent in the phrase "the oneness of their being"?
She is the living, visible proof of Hester and Dimmesdale's union—the material and spiritual bond between them.
What comparison does Dimmesdale make about Pearl's tantrum?
He compares it to "the cankered wrath of an old witch, like Mistress Hibbins," saying Pearl's young beauty gives her passion a preternatural effect.
What role does the brook play at the chapter's close?
It resumes its melancholy murmuring, adding this tale to its overburdened mysteries, with "not a whit more cheerfulness of tone than for ages heretofore."