The Importance Of Pearl In The Scarlet Letter

In the novel The Scarlet Letter a lot of attention has been given to the main characters Hester and Dimmesdale on how they have changed throughout the novel. All the attention is focused on Hester and Dimmesdale, but barely any has been focused on Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdale’s daughter and another main character in The Scarlet Letter. Pearl does have a significant role in the novel. Not only is she a symbol for sin, but she is also a symbol for much more. Pearl is an anchor and she is also a symbol of change. In Readings on The Scarlet Letter: Characters in The Scarlet Letter it mentions that Pearl is Hester’s happiness but she is also her torture (70). She is Hester’s torture because she is a reminder to Hester of her sin. Hester’s

Pearl is a symbol for both Hester and Dimmesdale of sin. Since Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father and Dimmesdale sin is adultery. This is the same sin that Hester committed. In the reading Characters in The Scarlet Letter it says “without her mother’s sin Pearl would not exist, nor could she exist without her mother’s love. Both of these are symbolized in Pearl. So not only is she a symbol of sin but also love. Another reason she is a symbol of love is because if Hester did not love her enough she would have let Pearl go. Hester would let the governor take Pearl away from her, but instead she fought and tried as hard as she could to keep Pearl. Hester even said “Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” (Hawthorne 124), with Hester saying this it shows that she loves Pearl more than her life. This is showing that Pearl is a symbol of love to

Before Pearl showed no affection to Dimmesdale, but after Dimmesdale changes Pearl starts to show him affection. Also Dimmesdale’s change was spiritual, and Pearl is a spiritual child. This shows a connection between the way Dimmesdale changed and the way Pearl acts. At the beginning of the novel Dimmesdale is a person who is with a group of ministers who are judging Hester, who is carrying Pearl as they come out of the prison. Toward the middle and near the end of the book is where you can notice Dimmesdale is changing. It all started when Chillingworth was assigned to be Dimmesdale’s personal doctor and looked at his chest in his sleep, when Chillingworth saw his chest and the letter “A” he opens a “bad side” of Dimmesdale. When Chillingworth saw that Dimmesdale has the letter “A” on his chest just like Hester he most likely had an assumption that Dimmesdale was Pearl’s father. This statement makes Pearl a symbol for change because after Chillingworth saw the “A” Dimmesdale started doing things that he would never do, the letter “A” is a connection to Hester and Pearl. At the end of the novel, on Election Day Dimmesdale stands up on the scaffold, where Hester stood with Pearl in her arms at the beginning of the novel and he gives his last sermon. He then goes on to confess in sin which is adultery and proceeds to show the letter “A” on his chest. After Dimmesdale confessed his