Pearl grew big enough to run about she amused herself with gathering handfuls of wild-flowers, and flinging them one by one, at her mothers bosom; dancing up and down, like a little elf, whenever she hit the scarlet letter.(1060)Much of Pearls strangeness comes from her exceptional quickness of mind and the abnormal environment in which she is reared with only her mother as a companion. As Pearl develops a personality, she becomes symbolic of the kind of passion that accompanied Hesters sin. Hester tolerated Pearls pretentious behavior but could not find it in her heart to condemn the child. As Pearl thus becomes so closely associated with the letter A on Hesters breast she becomes the embodiment not only of Hesters sin but also of her conscience. Nature is an amusing hobby for Pearl; therefore one of her favorite activities is playing with flowers and trees. She fits in with natural things, and she was gentler here [the forest] then in the grassy margined streets of the settlement, or in her mothers cottage as Hawthorne notes in the novel (1118). She is so closely affiliated to nature that the creatures of the forest approach her instead of disperse. The mother-forest, and these wild things which it nourished, all recognized a kindred wildness in the human child Hawthorne notes as Pearl is on a walk with her mother (1118). However, the Puritans believed that anything affiliated with the forest was evil; therefore, Pearl defies their laws by being effervescent and joyful in the woods. Some of the Puritans even believe her to be a demon offspring. So unusual is her behavior that she is often referred to in such terms as elf child, imp, and airy sprite. Pearl is a virtual shouting match between the Puritanical views and the Romantic ways. Pearl is a source of many kinds of symbolism. She is both a rose and indeed the scarlet letter. If she had not been born, Hester would not have had to wear the letter. Pearl is a burden to Hester; yet He...
