s around and confesses everything at the scaffold.Pearl is another main symbol that the novel is built around. Pearl symbolizes Hawthornes first child, Una. Pearl symbolizes Una because she was actually modeled after her. Pearl also represents the idea that the full acceptance of responsibility for sin is better then denying it. Accepting the consequences fully is also better that ignoring this responsibility altogether or even accepting it halfway. Hester accepted the responsibility for her sin, which was Pearl. In fact, Pearl was not only Hesters responsibility, but her gift. Pearl was indeed Hesters "pearl". Pearl was a treasure that Hester paid for greatly, and took the consequences. Hester paid by giving her life up for Pearl, she lost everything she ever had or could have gained in the Puritan society. The Puritans cast Hester away, making her an outsider for the community.More importantly, Pearl symbolizes the scarlet letter A and the fate of Hester. Pearl looks very much like the scarlet letter. When Pearl is first introduced she is dressed in crimson and gold, just like the A that Hester wears upon her chest. Pearl continually reminds Hester of her sin. Pearl reminds Hester so much of her sin, because of the fact that she dresses her like the letter. Hester also is reminded of her sin by Pearl because of her childlike wonder of the letter; Pearl is always asking why her mother wears the letter upon her chest, and why she cannot wear one. Not only does Peal represent the scarlet letter, but she also symbolizes fate. In the forest scene, she tells her mother to go and pick up her own letter, pointing to it. Fate also points its finger at the letter saying that she must live with the sin that she has committed.The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written around the symbols in the novel itself. Each symbol had an effect within the novel that should not be taken for granted. The symbols in the novel a...
