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

Hester's daughter, Pearl, functions primarily as a symbol. She is quite young during most of the events of this novel—when Dimmesdale dies she is only seven years old—and her real importance lies in her ability to provoke the adult characters in the book. She asks them pointed questions and draws their attention, and the reader's, to the denied or overlooked truths of the adult world. In general, children in The Scarlet Letter are portrayed as more perceptive and more honest than adults, and Pearl is the most perceptive of them all.

It is very sad that a child has no purpose in life other than show his parents guilt and shame. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Pearl was a little girl who was the product of and adulterous act when the minister at the church Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale and a young lady named Hester Prynne. “We have spoken of Pearl’s rich and luxuriant beauty—a beauty that shone with deep and vivid tints, a bright complexion, eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already of a deep, glossy brown, and which, in after years, would be nearly akin to black. “ (Hawthorne 52) Here is a brief description of Pearl, furthermore Pearl is also described as a child who seemed to have some sort of wildness in her.It is said that Pearl was a girl who distinguished herself among others. Pearl was intelligent, very

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

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the character Pearl is not only a major character, but also a constant symbol of redemption. She is the punishment for Dimmesdale and Hester’s sin as well as their path to salvation. Most importantly, however, Pearl is the scarlet letter itself. Pearl’s behavior and influence establish her role as a key symbol and a means to the evolution of the other characters.

She was born in a prison, and is being raised in a cottage that is nowhere near the village where all the other children grow up. When people call her such things, she does hear, so this hurts her emotionally and makes this an internal conflict for she must deal with the feelings of being different and judged by others. Since she is isolated from that part of a normal childhood, her only friend in the novel growing up is her mother. This being another internal conflict because she grew knowing her mother always wears the scarlet letter, and is in a certain community that has rules about women. Now in the novel, chapter 17, Hester takes off a garment that covers her hair and removes the scarlet letter from her bosom. Pearl seeing this throws a tantrum for her mother to undo this doing. Causing a major internal conflict of how Pearl sees her mother and dealing with what her mother’s symbols stand for. Pearl mocks her mother for that. There’s an external conflict created by Pearl towards Dimmesdale for when he is conversing with Hester in the forest and he dwells for a kiss, but Pearl refrains. Pearl is a strange child, for she knows something must be going on.

One of the most obvious symbols in The Scarlet Letter would be Pearl. Pearl is practically the scarlet letter in human form; She is the physical consequence of adultery. Yet even as a reminder of Hester’s

Pearl is the messenger of anguish towards her mother. She is the symbol of Hester’s adultery, and the source of seven years of suffering. Pearl questions her mother and makes her contemplate her sin. Often her questions regard the scarlet letter on her mother’s breast or the minister, and her innocent questions often hurt Hester deeply. In the forest, Pearl claims to not recognize her mother when she did not wear the scarlet letter.

In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Pearl as a strong symbol. She is looked upon as a breathing representation of Hester’s sin, the Puritans see Pearl as a “devil child” that should not be accepted, and she is a constant reminder to Hester of her transgression. From the first moment Hawthorne introduces Pearl in The Scarlet Letter it is evident that Pearl is looked at as a mistake. Hawthorne describes the newborn as the one, “whose innocent life has sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion” (6.82). Pearl is a beautiful outcome from the act of adultery that will have to persevere through all the hatred in her future.

Pearl Prynne was an imaginative character. She was very intuitive and never let anything go unnoticed. Pearl was a mark of her mothers sin, but she also the key to Dimmesdale's decline? You know her as Pearl a kid who got judged my her parent's mistake, but you haven't yet gotten to know her as a gift, a scarlet letter or a witch. Pearl means "great price" in the Bible.

Pearl constantly forces her mother, Hester, to face the shame of wearing her scarlet letter, a symbol for her sin. Meanwhile, she hounds Reverend Dimmesdale to face his fear of public realization of his sin straight through the doors of death. Although Hawthorne portrays Pearl as a messenger of pragmatism, her success is most often dependant on the characters’ own fears. While other characters try to conform with society, as expected in Puritan America, they are limited by their own fears rather than society’s rules and expectations for

In chapter 16 of the scarlet letter, Pearl is starting to question and make connections to

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?”

Similarly, Hawthorne uses Pearl to contribute to the theme of Imperfection. Pearl is the daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale, or in other words the product of adultery. After Hester is sent to prison, Pearl is born. Which was just 3 months before she and her mother had to present themselves on the scaffold in town. Hawthorne explains, “She bore a child in her arms, a baby of three months old, who winked....because it’s existence...acquainted only with the gray twilight of a dungeon…” (Hawthorne 50). The prison is a place of punishment and pure wickedness. Hawthorne explains that from the beginning of her life, Pearl was born into evil. Nonetheless, like any other child brought into the world she was still a gift from God, the prime example of Imperfection. Pearl was very intelligent and beautiful at a young age, but she still had an evil aspect to her that Hester saw firsthand. Pearl would sometimes show her mother affection but would quickly cover it up with vile laughter. Hester explains, “She is my happiness-she is my torture...Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too!” (Hawthorne 109). Proving Pearl was a faulty gift that Hester had to work hard for to keep. With

Similar to Hester, Pearl does not fit in with the Puritan community. She is deemed an outcast