The Scarlet Letter

What would you do if every time you looked into the eyes of a loved one, all you could see was a demon? But then when you took a second glance, all you could see was joy? In a way, Pearl is both the half the makes Hester Prynne whole and the evil that brings out Hester’s worst thoughts. Hester saw Pearl as the light in her life and the only person she had left, but also the human form of the beautiful, yet hideous, mark on her chest. Hester sees punishment and happiness when she looks at little Pearl’s face.
Just like any new mother, Hester Prynne is filled with love when she thinks about her newborn baby. From the day Pearl was born, she has always been bubbly and filled with happiness. Also, because Dimmesdale can’t admit to being the father, it seems as though Hester has no one by her side, except for her loving daughter. After everything God has taken away from Hester, she feels as though Pearl is the only thing she will ever have. When Hester says, “Pearl keeps me here in life,” it shows how much she needs Pearl. Another thing that is joyful about Pearl is that she doesn’t know what the letter “A” on Hester’s chest is. Therefore, she is the only person in the town that doesn’t judge Hester. When Hester is threatened to lose Pearl, she fights for her daughter because Pearl is the only hope left in Hester’s poor life.
Just like Pearl represents joy, she also represents torture. Hester says, “Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a millionfold the power of retribution for my sin?”. This statement means that Pearl is the scarlet letter in human form and is seen as the daily reminder of the mistake that Hester made. One of the first objects that catches Pearl’s eye when she is a baby is the beautiful letter on her mother’s bosom. When Pearl asks her mother about the letter, it is torture for Hester not to be able to tell her. It is also punishment for Hester when Pearl gets upset when her mother throws her letter on the ground in the forest. Pearl doesn’t understand that by her mother doing that, it represents her freedom so she makes her mother put the letter back on. To all of the townspeople and even to Hester, Pearl is seen as a witch and a demon. Mr. Dimmesdale proclaims this when he says, “The little baggage hath witchcraft in her, I profess. She needs no old woman’s broomstick to fly withal!”. It also breaks Hester’s heart when Pearl screams at other children in the town because they are judging her mother. Pearl is symbolic for pain and suffering, as well as joy and happiness for Hester. Pearl brings a sense of pleasure and normality to the hectic world of Hester Prynne. While she brings happiness, she also escorts pain with it. She brings misery behind a façade of cuteness. In my opinion, Hawthorne has several reasons for creating a character such as Pearl. She is a significant part of the novel because she proves that there is good that can come out of any bad situation. Pearl is basically the central point of Hester’s embarrassment and internal hell.