Pearl In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

From her initial introduction to the reader as the “yonder babe, (…) of some three or four months old”, Pearl represents the beauty of the truth (54). As she struggles to find answers about her mother’s scarlet A while simultaneously growing up, Pearl identifies as an innocent character, despite her creation. It is frequently noted that she looks similar to the scarlet letter that her mother so reluctantly bears, with her “bright complexion [and] eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already of a deep, glossy brown” (76). Her similar appearance to the scarlet letter furthers her permanent connection to the letter. Additionally, it highlights the notion that her mother will likely never be able to look at her without reminiscing upon her sin. As Pearl develops, her fire-like actions and dark appearance further molds her into the fleshly expression of Hester’s adultery. Furthermore, Hawthorne ensures to characterize Pearl throughout the novel as a friend to the sunlight, a friend to the truth. As she begins to pick determine that Dimmesdale is her father, the sunlight welcomes her. This is because she is the only innocent character who is not afraid to step into the sun’s rays. Pearl recognizes the light’s love for her and audibly notes, “the

Through Pearl, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne explores innocence as well as naivety in the mind of a young child. These qualities, along with the idea that all children are born free of sin, allow Pearl to escape the meaning of the Scarlet Letter that has turned her family upside down. The Scarlet Letter serves as a reminder of the sin that Hester commits by having a child out of wedlock. When Hester becomes pregnant and is forced to wear the Scarlet Letter, her community looks down upon her and wrongfully places the impurity of her actions onto her unborn child. Despite what people in the town think of Pearl, Hester views Pearl as a treasure, naming her ‘Pearl’ after something of opulence. In order to not taint this view, Hester tries as hard as she can to shield Pearl from the punishment of the letter telling her that she simply likes the gold trim on it and lying about its negative connotation. Instead of a curse, Pearl is a blessing in disguise and a gift from God, described as “a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion” (74).

Pearl, devil child or human? The Scarlet Letter, is a fictional novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, it takes place in Boston in the 1800’s. It is about a woman named Hester Prynne, who is an adulturist, a clothes designer, and a mother to Pearl. Hester committed the crime of being an adulturist with Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale doesn’t take the consequences of being Pearl’s father, he is a coward, and a sinner till the end where he finally confesses.

Pearl is the one in control of the scarlet letter, through the novel. She has a fixation on the letter since she was a baby and carries it through the book, causing there to be no escape from the symbol for her mother. She is also a living representation of the scarlet letter, through her fixation and her physical appearance. She is one of the aspects controlling the stigma of the letter. Pearl is the scarlet letter shown through her fascination, appearance, and control.

She touches the scarlet letter, but little does she know that she is the reason for the punishment. They are social outcasts, so they don’t leave their house much. Pearl plays alone and has best friends that are imaginary. She distrusts her own imaginary friends for the same reason that she distrusts all the Puritans in the colony. People treat Hester and Pearl differently than everyone else is treated. She only loves Hester, because Hester spends time with her and is a good mother. She plays with her and teaches her Bible stories. Pearl knows the whole catechism at the age of three, but refuses to say it to anyone. She is smarter than everyone thinks she is. Chillingworth speaks to Pearl about the scarlet letter. He asked her if she knew the reason why her mother must wear the scarlet letter all the time. She replies, “Yes, that is the same reason why the preacher holds his hand over his heart.” Pearl asks her mom all the time the reason why she wears the scarlet letter and why the preacher holds his hand over his heart. She knows that they both do, but she doesn’t know why. Hester tells her that she wears it because of the pretty gold thread, but she doesn’t know the minister’s reason. Later in the story, Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl meet in the forest, and Hester rips the scarlet letter off. Pearl gets mad then, because she knows that her mother is supposed to wear it. Dimmesdale kisses Pearl, but she washes the kiss off with

This, as Arthur Dimmesdale almost prophetically expresses in the early scenes of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, was the role of Pearl, the elfish child borne of his and Hester Prynne's guilty passion. Like Paul's thorn in the flesh, Pearl would bring trouble, heartache, and frustration to Hester, but serve a constructive

“Imagination is the key ingredient to overcoming fear and doubt.” Throughout “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne tends to emphasize the intensity of Pearl’s imagination by describing the way Pearl saw the world around her and by talking about the way the people who noticed her vivid imagination, referred to her as a “witch-child”. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Pearl grows up secluded from the rest of the children in the New World. She learns to entertain herself and keep herself company by using her imagination. This is one big example of Pearl overcoming the hardships that she grew up with. As the book progresses, and as Pearl gets older, we see her overcome more hardships she is challenged with to create a strong, independent young girl. The poem provided written by Emily Dickinson comes to show how overcoming Pearl’s hardships led her to blossom from a strong, independent young girl, into an even stronger, successful woman.

The characters in The Scarlet Letter are individually viewed differently by the people in the town. Pearl, the infant in the beginning scaffold scene, is a complex character in the novel that is subjected to the cruel comments and rude behavior of the townspeople. Although Pearl is shown as a human character just like all the other characters, Pearls main purpose is to be a living, complicated symbol for the scarlet letter “A” that her mother is forced to wear. Along with the letter “A” printed on her mother’s chest, Pearl is seen as evil and often considered a child of the devil. Although that observation is based solely on the opinions of the townspeople and the letter her mother wears, Pearl often acts in a manner that could be described

““There was witchcraft in little Pearl’s eyes, and her face, as she glanced upward at the minister, wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elvish.” (Hawthorne 145) This, is a misleading description that Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts of Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, in his classic novel The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is the living product of sin for her mother. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is a unique child that tends to be very moody and unpredictable. However, Pearl, at such a young age, demonstrates outstanding knowledge and exhibits curiosity to her mother’s scarlet letter, and the hypocrisy of Puritan society. Although Pearl portrays devilish characteristics and performs mischievous behaviour, she

In other words, a character has to earn his place in the story. There is no doubt that Pearl earns her place in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book “The Scarlet Letter”. First of all, she is the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Given that Pearl is the only proof of Hester’s sin, if the child had never been born, the scarlet letter would not had been put on Hester’s chest.

In the book, the first thing that Pearl notices after she is born into the world is the elaborately embroidered scarlet letter, which her mother has fasted on her breast at all times. "The very first thing which she [Pearl] noticed in her life was . . . the scarlet letter" (88). Because of this, Pearl comes to know her mother by the letter; when she thinks of the letter she thinks of her mother, and when she thinks of her mother, she thinks of the letter. Throughout the book, Pearl continues to see her mother wearing the letter and, in fact, almost never sees Hester without it. It may be said that, in Pearl's eyes,

Both Dimmesdale and Hester are skeptical about Pearl’s true nature. Hawthorne describes Pearl as the “living hieroglyphic, in which was revealed the secret they so darkly sought to die-all written in the symbol, all plainly manifest.” Pearl, as a child, represents innocence. Yet, she is the physical, living version of her parent’s adultery. It brings up the question in the readers’ minds of “how something that was evil could be embodied in this beautiful symbol of love and innocence?”

Hester looks into "the black mirror of Pearl's eye" and she sees "a face, fiend-like, full of smiling malice, yet bearing the semblance of features that she had known full well, though seldom with a smile, and never with malice in them." Pearl shows the unification of the child with the idea of sin. 1. She is the conscience of the community, pointing her finger at Hester. 2.

For example, the first thing she instinctively clutches to is the A fastened on Hester’s chest: “But that first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware was the scarlet letter on Hester's bosom” (Hawthorne). Here, Pearl’s aberration illustrates her deviation from normality. While Hester believes Pearl’s outlandish nature is God’s punishment for her sin, Hester also recognizes that Pearl is a gift from God, representing possible redemption. Pearl’s shift from endearing to demon-like behavior reinforces the idea that Pearl is Hester’s savior, yet also her tormentor. Pearl’s attachment to the A was further exemplified when she “imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother's” (Hawthorne). Despite society’s belief that Hester can only redeem herself through public shame, wearing the A, Pearl believes that the only escape from sin is in nature, as shown through her creation of a green A. Additionally, Pearl intentionally made the A to provoke her mother, wondering “if mother will ask me what it means,” characterizing Pearl as Hester’s tormentor (Hawthorne). Furthermore, while Pearl is physically attached to the A, she is also mentally, as shown through her constant questioning of Hester. “what does this scarlet letter mean?—and why dost thou wear it on thy bosom?—and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?” (Hawthorne). Pearl is

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne's work, The Scarlet Letter, nature plays a very symbolic role. Throughout the book, nature is incorporated into the story line. One example of this is with the character of Pearl. Pearl is very different than all the other characters due to her special relationship with Nature. Hawthorne personifies Nature as sympathetic towards sins against the puritan way of life. Hester's sin causes Nature to accept Pearl.