Melville's "Moby Dick" and Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" Analytical Essay by Top Papers

The paper examines how the characters of Pearl in Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" and Ishmael in "Moby Dick" are both quintessential outsiders. The paper discusses how Pearl's more difficult circumstances - the illegitimate child of a minister and a young lady of the community - make her more unwilling to make friends; by contrast, Ishmael at least develops strong ties with Queequeg in spite of his (Ishmael's) predisposition towards misanthropy. Furthermore, the paper mentions that both Pearl and Ishmael are captives of individuals each knows well. In the end, the paper shows how both of these men have so allowed their own desire for revenge and gratification to consume their respective beings that they push away others, cause needless suffering and - especially in the case of Ahab - bring things to ruin. The paper highlights how elemental human passions and inclinations (towards revenge, towards alienation, towards bitterness) can cause so much suffering.