The Influence Of Little Pearl In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

In a surface examination of the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is quickly evident that no good things come from the wilderness. Therein, the wilderness is often associated with the savages and the devil. In his work The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne finds herself exiled by society for having an adulterous affair with the town reverend which brought forth the child known as Pearl. Pearl is quickly established as the child of the wilderness: wild, capricious, and thought by the town to be a demon-child. She represents several entities in the novel just by her being, but when her morality is delved into, much more of the nature of the story can be revealed. Pearl’s role is often overlooked as a formative force in the novel. Some scholars have gone as far as to denounce her as unnecessary to the story’s makeup. Upon close examination, it can be determined that Pearl is indeed a necessary element. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl presents themes of morality, both personal and cultural, as well as the divide between society and nature, through her interactions with Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and the scarlet letter itself.

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne characterizes Pearl with contrasting personalities and roles she plays in Hester’s life. Pearl’s conflicting personality components, innocence and defiance, both derive from her isolation from society, which transpired because of her mother’s sin. Pearl represents the conflict between everything good and dark, which reflects in the role she plays in Hester’s life, as the physical embodiment of the A. While Pearl serves as a savior to Hester, representing possible redemption, she is also Hester’s tormentor, a constant reminder of her sin, and the consequences of disobeying her Puritan nature and religion. Hawthorne’s intent is established in the novel through Pearl’s attachment to the A, the mirror

Hester Prynne, the main character of the book "The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, commits adultery, is considered a hussy, and has a child as the result of her sin. She cheats on her husband while he is absent from town and receives a harsh punishment for her behavior already. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom for the rest of her life. It is now on debate on whether or not Pearl should be taken away from her mother’s guidance. This is due to the fact that she is a sinner and might not be a qualified mother for her child.It is true, that no matter what you did in the past, a child is a blessing and parents change due to the love they have for their children. Therefore, Hester

In spite of that, what makes her the protagonist of the story is how she is able to overcome her punishment that was meant to give her shame. Throughout Chapter 13 of the book, Hawthorne shows how Hester’s confidence has developed in herself and in view of the town, most noticeably when considering the meaning of the scarlet letter, “Such helpfulness was found in her ... that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength,” (Hawthorne 107). Instead of subjecting to the shame that was forced upon her, she grew above it, conveying a different aspect of the theme of guilt, which is redemption. This is not to say that Hester did not care about the sin she committed, as she is very much reminded of it every day of her life while living with the child of that sin. In fact, the author addresses this by saying, “In giving her existence a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder,” (Hawthorne 60). Hawthorne is implying how Pearl represents the outcome of a sin and arranged it so that Hester is always living with that sin, therefore, always being reminded of the shame she is supposed to

““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

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).

In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is often regarded as a symbol to that of the suffering of Hester Prynne and the shamed Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale but Pearls significance is more than just symbolizing the sin committed by her parents. She in many ways represents the innocence that the puritan belief is regressing itself to have. Hawthorne constructs Pearl as an evolving symbol for Hester and Dimmsdale and her progression as a character is shown through that of the actions set forth by these characters. Since the inception of the act of adultery by Hester and Dimmesdale, Pearl is developed by sin but she is not conformed to sin and as a result symbolizing a release of sin. She is essentially the road from childhood to adulthood, innocence to innocence lost to finally understanding and accepting the card that we are all delved with and that’s life after sin.

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

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.

Hester called her Pearl not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of a calm lustre. She named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price,--purchased with all she had,--her mother's only treasure!

Chapter nineteen opens with Hester calling Pearl, Pearl stands on the other side of the brook refusing to cross. Hester believes it is because of the scarlet letter missing from her bosom, she was right. Pearl’s reaction to her mother without the scarlet letter did not surprise me but left me to question Pearl as a person. Why does Pearl have such a connection with the scarlet letter? Why wouldn’t she come when her mom called her without it on? When Hester put the scarlet letter back on Pearl comes over and kisses Hester and the A. Thus leading to Pearl asking Hester if the minister will walk back into town holding their hand, Pearl question is foreshadowing what will happen in a future chapter. However, Hester disregards her question and introduces her to

“But she named the infant ‘Pearl,’ as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother’s only treasure!” (74). Pearl is the quintessential symbol of Hester Prynne’s life after her punishment is determined. In the novel, the author takes the reader back to the Puritan days where a woman, Hester Prynne, commits adultery and is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter ‘A’ for life. Throughout the novel, Hester raises Pearl, her daughter, alone while her partner, Dimmesdale, carries on his life as a well respected minister. The scarlet letter isolates her from the rest of the townspeople with only Pearl to accompany her. Hester’s isolation is exemplified many different, powerful symbols. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the major symbols includes Pearl who represents the joy, sorrow, and punishment in Hester’s life.

The sin that was committed by Hester continues to have a profound effect on her and her daughter. After being shunned and isolating herself from the rest of the world, she continues to try to protect herself and her daughter from the backlash that the townspeople are giving them. There are rumors going around the town that people, including the governor, think that Pearl is a demon child. It is said that if Pearl is a demon child she should be taken away from Hester for Hester’s good but if Pearl is not a demon child, she should still be taken away so she can be placed with better parents. While meeting with the governor, he judges Pearl and asks her, “..what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee in this strange fashion? Art thou a Christian

Pearl’s characteristics cause her to become paranoid about her possibly having demon or witch-like traits passed to her from her sin. “The child could not be made amenable to rules.”(77). This is the first time Pearl’s oddities are introduced to the audience. Hawthorne is foreshadowing her up and coming childhood filled with strange actions and keen observations. Even as an infant, Pearl seems to be aware of her mother’s sin. “But that first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware was-shall we say it?-the scarlet letter on Hester’s bosom!”(82). Since the scarlet letter is what she was first aware of, it could be said that this is where Pearl and the scarlet letter became “one”. To the Puritans, the scarlet letter is a peculiarity and so is Pearl, so some comparisons can be made between the two. Her exposure to the letter is a stepping-stone for the growing fixation that she has to it as she gets older. Pearl’s awareness of the letter helps the development of the plot and keeps Hester on her toes, because she rarely allows her mother to forget about it. “Still came the battery of flowers, almost invariably hitting the mark, and covering her mother’s breast…”(83) “I see you here. Look! Look... Hester looked, by way of humoring the child; and she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic

In the ninth through eighteenth chapters of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, many things are established. The characters in the novel are beginning to be fully characterized, Pearl is described as “elvish” and to have an “elf-smile in her eyes” and at such a young age Pearl displays a supernatural intelligence that most three year-old’s do not possess. Pearl is a living example representing the sin of adultery that Hester Prynne, her mother, has committed, which connects to the theme. Pearl is very much alike her mother Hester, because of their captivating beauty. Another character development is the evolution of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale’s illness. Dimmesdale becomes extremely ill, and he punishes himself because of the sin he committed which was also adultery, with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale slowly begins to attempt to reveal his sinfulness through his sermons, but this leads his congregation to believe he is very holy and could never be a sinful being. Hawthorne uses dramatic irony, through this situation because the reader knows who the father of Pearl is and that Dimmesdale committed adultery, but the people of the