Either Hester would be wracked with guilt and tortured in the way that Dimmesdale was, or she could forgive herself and do her best to move past it as if the sin had never occurred. There is no way to tell which could occur. It could be supposed she would suffer without Pearl to raise, because Pearl really became what Hester was living for at times. Dimmesdale, in his plea for Hester’s custody rights in chapter 8 called Pearl, “the one blessing of her life.” Without this blessing and reason to live, Hester may have withered the same way Dimmesdale did, feeling a fraud. However, every time Hester looked at Pearl she must have felt such extreme pain, so you could just as easily guess that it would be beneficial for Hester’s mental health to take Pearl out of the picture. Dimmesdale, for one does “verily believe” that Hester is “less miserable for that scarlet letter on her breast.” Having Pearl forces Hester to need to repent, but the new lifestyle builds Hester into a strong person who gives her all to help the less fortunate. Regardless of Hester’s feelings, Chillingworth still would have returned and there is every chance in the world that Hester and Chillingworth would have honored their marriage. Without Pearl to show that their relationship could never be the same, their relationship might have reverted to the dull thing …show more content…
Pearl is the most free of all; she is true if not what the townspeople would consider good. Changing anything about Pearl from the story would be practically as destructive of the story as removing the tryst between Hester and Dimmesdale. If Pearl was removed from the story and not replaced by any other child, there would be no proof that Hester had done wrong. Hester’s life could have continued as it had gone before without any major changes, but then she alone would feel the weight of her sins. If Pearl was replaced with a different and perhaps more normal child, it cannot be known what would have happened. Possibly, Hester’s character would remain the same, but more likely not, since it is the challenges in life that shape us. Pearl definitely counts as a challenge, but one that was 100% necessary to give The Scarlet Letter its