gracious innocence in her child. Hester's views toward Pearl change from merely questioning Pearl's existence to perceiving Pearl as a demon sent to make her suffer. Hawthorne notes that at times Hester is feeling as if an "unutterable pain" (89) creates her penance. Hester even tries to deny that this "imp" is her child, "Thou art not my child! Thou art no Pearl of mine" (90)! It is small wonder that Pearl, who has been raised around sin, becomes little more than a reflection of her environment. Pearl is perceived to then be the walking, living scarlet letter. She is a constant reminder to Hester and the community of the "evil" that Hester has committed. Hester's own sin leads her to believe that Pearl is an instrument of the devil, when in reality she is merely a curious child who cherishes her free nature and wants to be loved by her mother. She is not evil but is portrayed as such because of her mother's actions.Because of her own profound sin, Hester is always peering into Pearl's burnt ochre eyes to try to discover some evil inside her daughter. "Day after day, she looked fearfully into the child's ever expanding nature, ever dreading to detect some dark and wild peculiarity, that should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owed her being" (82). Pearl is more or less Hester's conscience. That is why Pearl always asks her questions over and over again and why Hester cannot lie to her; you cannot lie to you conscience. Hester ultimately ends up fearing Pearl because of her inability to overcome her own guilty conscience, and thus fails to command the respect a mother needs from a child:"After testing both smiles and frowns and proving that neithermode of treatment possessed any calculable influence, Hester wasultimately compelled to stand aside, and permit the child to beswayed buy her own impulsesAs to any other kind of discipline,whether addressed to her mind or heart, little Pearl might or mightnot be within ...
