No other Pearl can be worth more to a story than this Pearl, but no pearl had ever been earned at as high a cost to a person as in Hester Prynne, the powerful Main Character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”. Her daughter Pearl, born into a Puritan prison in moreways than one, is an enigmatic character serving entirely as a vehicle for symbolism. From herintroduction as an infant on her mother’s scaffold of shame to the stormy peak of the story, Pearlis an empathetic and intelligent child. Throughout the story she absorbs the hidden emotions ofher mother and magnifies them for all to see. Pearl is the essence of literary symbolism. She is attimes a vehicle for Hawthorne to express the inconsistent and translucent qualities of Hester’sunlawful bond at times, and at others a forceful reminder of her mother’s sin. Which is why she isa perfect extension of the scarlet letter and its punishment.Pearl Prynne is her mother’s most precious possession and her only reason to live, but alsoserves as a priceless treasure purchased with her life. Pearl’s strange beauty and deeply enigmaticqualities make her the most powerful symbol Hawthorne has ever created. The product ofHester’s sin and agony, Pearl, was a painfully constant reminder of her mother’s violation of theSeventh Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Hester herself felt that Pearl was givento her not only as a blessing but a punishment worse than death or ignominy. She is tormented byher daughter’s childish teasing and endless questioning about the scarlet letter and it’s meaning tohernister . After Pearl has created a letter “A” on her own breast out of seaweed, she asks hermother: “But in good earnest, now, mother dear, what does this scarlet letter mean? -- and whydost thou wear it on thy bosom?” In saying this Pearl implies that she knows much, much moreabout th...
