Scarlet Letter Pearl

Pearl, a child born from sin and a living embodiment of the act itself, is a complex character in The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Pearl’s personality and actions throughout the novel are reflective of her surroundings, as ignorance to the sin which created her prevents any influence from the concept that her existence is a result of an act which those in a Puritan community find so repugnant that Hester is punished with being the permanent representation of adultery. The unnatural and isolated disposition of Pearl’s life created a child so disconnected from the real world that her character is viewed as one which could be described as supernatural, and in some cases almost demonic. It is the foreign nature of Pearl’s existence which influences Hester’s view of Throughout the entirety of the novel, it is clear that Pearl’s emotions and actions were impacted heavily based on the current situation. Pearl was not yet capable of understanding why her mother was being punished, and was therefore exposed to nothing but the suffering and pain which Hester felt. and “the child--who, drawing its sustenance from the maternal bosom, seemed to have drank in with it all the turmoil, the anguish and …show more content…
Since infancy she has stared at her mother’s mark with wonder, it was the “first object of which Pearl seemed to be [aware of]” (Hawthorne 79). Her portrayal of the scarlet letter is somewhat inherited, as Hester’s act of adultery was led to her birth and was also what resulted in Hester wearing the letter to begin with. The book repeatedly makes connections between Pearl and the scarlet letter, and this makes sense because of the direct relation between Pearl, Hester’s sin, and the scarlet letter. However, there is much more to Pearl than this as her situation has given her a chance to develop opinions without influence from other kids or anyone else except her