In the Scarlet Letter, Pearl, Hester Prynne 's daughter, is a living version of her mother 's scarlet letter and is similarly described as so. Descriptions of Pearl used by Hawthorne and those surrounding her give her a preternatural quality, making her image beyond that of humans. Throughout the novel, Pearl is used as both an indication of Hester Prynne 's adultery and the conscience of others until the day of Dimmesdale 's death, in which she is fully transformed from a symbol to a human. Pearl, a smart, creative, curious, yet sometimes stubborn child is primarily described as a symbol by both Hawthorne and other characters. Pearl can be represented as a living version of her mother 's scarlet letter. She is the physical consequence
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This description of both the nature and fashion of Pearl can be easily related to the detail of the scarlet letter. The fashion and embroidery of her clothing is equal to that of the scarlet letter. Much like scarlet letter, Pearl grasps the attention of those surrounding her causing the community to be taken back by her beauty. The scarlet letter and Pearl are also comparable because they are from the same creator: Hester Prynne. These two symbols are a complicated indication of an act of love and passion and identify Hester 's sin; however, Pearl is not only a punishment of lust, she is also a blessing by representing the spirit and passion that sparked the sin. Pearl 's existence gives her mother a reason to live, blessing Hester with high spirits when she is low. At a point in the novel, when Hester looks into "the small black mirror of Pearl 's eye" 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" …show more content…
This transformation is the result of the tragic death of Pearl 's father, showing the extreme power it took to make her human. Although Pearl functions primarily as a symbol, it is not until the end that she is described fully as a
This description of both the nature and fashion of Pearl can be easily related to the detail of the scarlet letter. The fashion and embroidery of her clothing is equal to that of the scarlet letter. Much like scarlet letter, Pearl grasps the attention of those surrounding her causing the community to be taken back by her beauty. The scarlet letter and Pearl are also comparable because they are from the same creator: Hester Prynne. These two symbols are a complicated indication of an act of love and passion and identify Hester 's sin; however, Pearl is not only a punishment of lust, she is also a blessing by representing the spirit and passion that sparked the sin. Pearl 's existence gives her mother a reason to live, blessing Hester with high spirits when she is low. At a point in the novel, when Hester looks into "the small black mirror of Pearl 's eye" 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" …show more content…
This transformation is the result of the tragic death of Pearl 's father, showing the extreme power it took to make her human. Although Pearl functions primarily as a symbol, it is not until the end that she is described fully as a