Scarlet Letter And Pearl Character Essay Example For Students

Scarlet Letter And Pearl Character Essay In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, many of the characters suffer fromthe tolls of sin, but none as horribly as Hesters daughter Pearl. She alonesuffers from sin that is not her own, but rather that of her mother. From theday she is conceived, Pearl is portrayed as an offspring of evil. She is broughtintroduced to the pitiless domain of the Puritan religion from inside a jail, aplace where no light can touch the depths of her mothers sin. The austerePuritan ways punish Hester through banishment from the community and the church,simultaneously punishing Pearl in the process. This isolation leads to anunspoken detachment and hatred between her and the other Puritan children. Thuswe see how Pearl is conceived through sin, and how she suffers when her motherand the community situate this deed upon her like the scarlet letter on hermothers bosom. Pearl is thought of being an evil child with demon likequalities, yet she is spirited and very loving towards her mother. Hester Prynn constantly questions Pearls existence and purpose asking God, what isthis being which I have brought into the world, evil? or inquiring toPearl, Child, what art thou? Hester sees Pearl as a reminder of hersin, especially since as an infant Pearl is acutely aware of the scarlet letterA on her mothers chest. When still in her crib, Pearl reached up and graspedthe letter, causing Hester Prynne clutch the fatal token so infinitewas the torture inflicted by the intelligent touch of Pearls baby-hand(Hawthorne 66). The torture Hester felt was reflected by the significantreminder of the sin that brought Pearl into life. Hester feels guilty whenevershe sees Pearl, a feeling she reflects onto her innocent child. In this manner,Hester forces the child to become detached from society. Pearl becomes no morethan a manifestation based entirely upon Hesters and Dimmesdales original sin. She is described as the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letterendowed with life!(70). Or in other words a living child demonstrating herparents sin. Hesters views toward Pearl changes from merely questioning Pearlsexistence to perceiving Pearl as a demon sent to make her suffer. Hawthorneremarks that at times Hester is, feeling that her penance might best bewrought out by this unutterable pain(67). Hester even tries to deny thatthis imp is her child, Thou art not my child! Thou art noPearl of mine!(73; 67) It is small wonder that Pearl, who has been raisedaround sin, becomes little more than a reflection of her environment. Hesterbelieves that Pearl is an instrument of the devil, when in reality she is merelya curious child who cherishes her free nature and wants to be loved by hermother. Pearl is a very spirited child whose love for her mother is deep eventhough she does not always show it. Hester feels guilty because she trulybelieves in her heart that it is her sin cau sing Pearl to become aware of harshrealities of the world. Pearl responds to this harshness by defending hermother, sticking up for Hester against the Puritan children when they start tohurl mud at her. Pearls lack of friends forces her to imagine the forest as herplaything. However, she is clearly upset about her exclusion from the people ofthe town, whom she views as enemies. The pine trees needed little to Puritan elders the ugliest of weeds their children (65). Pearl acts to use her environment as a basis for her personality: She nevercreated a friend, but seemed always to be sowing, broadcast the dragons teeth,whence sprung a harvest of armed enemies, against whom she rushed to battle. Itwas inexpressibly sad- then what depth of sorrow to a mother, who felt her ownheart the cause! (65) sprung a harvest of armed enemies is a metaphor thatHawthorne uses in a way to display Pearls imagination. Hester knows that her sinis the reason that Pearl has to imagine friends because of the isolation fromthe Puritan people and their children. By the end of the story, when Hester isfinally able to release her sin, Pearl is no longer a creation of a secretpassion, but the daughter of a minister and a attractive young woman. She isonly from that moment onward able to live her life without the weight of hermothers sin. In fact, Hawthorne points out that she is viewed as normal becauseof the burden lifted from her soul: they were the pledgethat she would gr ow up amid human joy and sorrow. Pearl is an offspring ofsin whose life revolves around the affair between her mother and ReverendDimmesdale. Pearl stands out as a radiant child implicated in the sin betweenher parents. It is only once the sin is publicly revealed that she is liberatedby the truth.