Have you ever reminisced about a bad doing that you had committed? If so how did you deal with it? How did others around you react and treat you afterwards? In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne uses the character Pearl as a representation of the sin that Hester had committed. Due to her actions the townspeople looked upon her with disgust and shamed her for her wrong doings. Hawthorne attempts to show how the guilt one has, and carries with themselves, can be a never ending punishment.
Who is Pearl? Pearl is one of the most important characters in the book The Scarlet Letter. She is a living symbol of her mother's shame and triumph, and the outcome of the sin her mother Hester committed. Pearl is an important character because she defines Hester's identity and purpose, and gives Hester a companion to love. Throughout the novel it’s important to remember that Pearl also symbolizes evil. The way she symbolizes evil is because she was born through the sin and therefore represents the punishment that God inflicted onto Hester’s adulterous act. At a point the narrator describes Pearl as “The Scarlet Letter endowed with life” like the letter Hester wears. Pearl is the public consequence of Hester’s very private sin, and she is very watchful of her mother. In many number of places she’s always quick to remind Hester to wear The Scarlet Letter, they go to the forest Hester removes the A and Pearl makes her put it back on, she’s there to constantly remind her mother of her sin.
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When someone does something wrong there is always a consequence to the doing, and sometimes that consequence can stick with you for a lifetime. Imagine a punishment where you’re having to walk around your own town everyday with a letter that represents the sin you’ve committed. How embarrassing and shameful would someone feel. Now imagine having a tiny person in your life that is an actual living representation of the sin you've committed, and well that was the case for Hester. Restating what was presented earlier in this paper, Pearl reminds Hester of her transgression, the act that has left her in a current state of alienation. Although Pearl is a big reminder of what her mother committed she’s also Hester’s greatest treasure,and she loves her no matter what she symbolizes, because Pearl is all she has. Throughout the novel Nathaniel Hawthorne makes it very clear that Hester Prynne loves her daughter, Pearl,very much, and she’s very much aware of the gifts that Pearl has such as beauty, grace, and intelligence. Hester is also aware of her daughters imperfections in personality and mindset due to the fact that the punishment of her mother, had caused her to be continually and painfully aware that Pearl was conceived sin. Of course no child is ever perfect, but Hester blames the heightened emotions that she had experienced during the pregnancy for Pearl’s fluctuating moods and sometimes disobedience.
What’s significant about Pearl's temperament? Her temperament is reflective of her origin. Pearl is the product of a broken rule and will not obey rules herself. She was born out of a passion that got carried away, hence her wild and unruly nature. Hawthorne uses her as an example of what the outcome of one’s sin can become. Her mother committed a sin and broke the rules, no surprise that her daughter that was the product of the doing is following in that example. Not all children end up the same as their parents or committee their same mistakes. Although there is a high possibility of it, and keeping in mind that it’s what they have come to know by watching them. For Pearl, her mother’s whole identity revolves around The Scarlet Letter. Hester and the symbol of her adultery are linked in pearls mind, as Pearl herself is the living embodiment of Hester’s transgression. Pearls personality in The Scarlet Letter is the token of her mother’s adultery. She’s the being that made her mother’s sin known to the townspeople. Hester has been condemned to wear both pearl and The Scarlet Letter ‘A’ and are careless reminders of this transgression.
Who does Pearl symbolize? With the sin that was brought upon Hester, there had to be another person involved as well, Pearl's father. Pearl also symbolizes the connection between Hester and Dimmesdale. Hawthorne uses her as the living version of The Scarlet Letter and the physical consequence of sexual sin. So not only is she the representation of the sin her mother committed but also her father. Pearl is shunned from society, all the townspeople look at her and her mother with such disgust because of her mother’s actions. Acting as a constant reminder of Hester’s sin. Hawthorne uses vivid descriptions to characterize Pearl. For example she’s first described as an infant “whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.' (Hawthorne 81) and it’s true she was just a child that had nothing to do with the sinful actions her parents had made. However the actions she later on showed of disobedience is now something that is on herself. In The Scarlet Letter Pearl is called and elf child, the term ‘elf’ responds to the possibility that, since she is a child born out of 'the luxuriance of a guilty passion', the sins of her mother and father have somewhat permeated Pearl's existence giving it an air of evil. Does pearl change throughout The Scarlet Letter? Yes, Pearl finally becomes sort of a normal person after thins. There isn’t and symbol, just her and she develops feelings that she never had before. She no longer feels bound to torture her mothererratic behavior or child like obsessions with The Scarlet Letter.
Apart from the sad story of Hester Prynne and Pearl, there is a much deeper meaning to the novel. Hawthorne’s purpose for writing The Scarlet Letter was to reveal the life of hypocrisy of the Puritan communities back in those days. Hawthorne used Pearl as a very important part of the story to show the consequences of our sins. Pearl was the living The Scarlet Letter, the token of her mother’s sin. Pearl was not only the sin that was conceived he was also hope for her mother, Pearl is something that Hester holds onto for strength and to be able to keep going. Hester and pearl went through so much when they lived in their town, they were looked upon as with disgrace and worthless. Just imagining having to go through this humiliation everyday, and having to take all this disrespect from everyone, it makes sense how Pearl was her only sense of hope and motivation to keep going. Like stated before people are quick to call others out on their mistakes that they committed but not to recognize that they themselves have problems too, in Matthew 7:1-2 it says “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you”. So many people over look the facts that we’ve all committed and are committing sins. The Scarlet Letter, is a great example of how people are hypocrites, and rather judge others mistress of themselves. Hawthorne shows through The Scarlet Letter that the guilt one carries with themselves can be a never ending punishment, one that is very painful.
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