The Vital Role of Children in Their Parents’ Life

“The path of development is a journey of discovery that is clear only in retrospect, and it’s rarely a straight line.” – Kennedy-Moore, Eileen. While Eileen’s comments about the mental growth of children were published in 2011, those same ideas can be traced back hundreds of years ago. The perfect example of Kennedy-Moore’s idea is the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne which describes the life of a woman, Hester, who is accused of adultery in a Puritan colony. Also, the story describes Hester’s relationship with her daughter, Pearl, which is extremely complex and is developed throughout the whole book. Although there are many scenarios in which Pearl tortures and humiliates Hester, Pearl brings true joy to Hester and makes her feel delighted.

Pearl is an extremely important person in Hester’s life because she makes her mother feel truly happy and manages to successfully distract Hester from all the hate that surrounds her. Hester knows that with the birth of Pearl, everything would change. The narrator explains: “It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and inclosing her in a sphere by herself” (Hawthorne 48), which represents the role of the scarlet letter that Hester had to attach to her clothes. She knows that the society will not accept her because of the sin that she has committed. However, this does not stop her from giving birth to Pearl, who was born from true passion and love: “ But she named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother’s only treasure!” (Hawthorne 80) Hester is ready to face up to public disapproval and be treated horribly by other people in order to have Pearl. She fears the birth of Pearl because her child will become the living embodiment of her sin and will constantly remind her about her wrongdoing. In fact, she tries to hide her scarlet letter, which represents her sin, with Pearl. She quickly understood that a shameful action cannot cover up another, and lifted up her infant, so that the other people could clearly see the letter. As she performs those actions, the narrator describes Hester’s face as: “…with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours” (Hawthorne 48). This quote presents the fact that Hester refuses to be ashamed of her sin because she knows that true love hides behind it. The name “Pearl” signifies that she is extremely precious to her mother, and she could even be referred to as Hester’s treasure.

Another important reason why Hester decides to have Pearl is that she has true feelings towards Dimmesdale. Even though it would be significantly better in terms of her happiness not to be in love with the minister, she cannot help herself, and she decides that she want to suffer alone: “And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine”’ (Hawthorne 61). Hester is ready to sacrifice her reputation in the name of love. Therefore, Pearl serves as a bridge that connects the love between Dimmesdale and Hester and keeps it alive, although it is strictly forbidden. Similarly, Pearl serves as a source of joy to Hester because she is the only one she can talk to. They live isolated from the rest of the Puritan society, which means that they do not have anyone, but each other. Hester is relieved by the fact that she can talk to Pearl, which helps her not feel alone in a world that despises her. The narrator describes, “God gave me the child!… He gave her in requital of all things else, which she had taken from me.  She is my happiness!―she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first” (Hawthorne 101), which further strengthens the argument that Hester is extremely dependent on Pearl in order to be happy. After all, there is a special mother-daughter connection between them, and like every mother, Hester adores her child. She does not allow anybody to take her away from her because if she loses Pearl, she will lose a part of herself. Without Pearl, she will live a life that is full of hate, loneliness, and regret. Pearl brings true happiness in Hester’s life because she is the reason why Hester feels alive and allows her to find the light in a world that is full of darkness.

Some believe that Pearl is a destructive force in Hester’s life because she is the living embodiment of her sin and distances her even further from the Puritan society, but that is not true. First of all, Hester knew that she will lose everything in order to have Pearl, but she still did it. Therefore, she knew that it will be worth it because she will bring more happiness than punishments. Secondly, Pearl asks Hester a lot of questions about her letter. That is not because she wants to hurt her, but because she is curious as every other child. She also wants to know the truth, and because Hester always refuses to explain to Pearl why she has the letter, she continues asking her. The narrator writes, “‘Mother,’ said little Pearl, ‘the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. Now, see! There it is, playing, a good way off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!’” (Hawthorne 167), which explains that Pearl actually understands that there is something oddly peculiar with the letter that distinguishes Hester from the other adults. However, this does not stop her from loving her mother, even though she is different, which in a way, strengthens the mother-daughter relationship between them.

Most significantly, Pearl prevents Hester from making the mistake of running away from her own past. It is vital for Hester to be able to face up to the actions that she had done in the past, in order to accomplish happiness. Dimmesdale represents what would happen to her if she decides to pretend that the past does not exist: “All the dread of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him” (Hawthorne 138). The fact that Dimmesdale’s fate of him hiding his sin is presented by describing him extremely ill and weak, further prove that running away from the past will result in a guilty heart. Also, if she just pretends that she has never committed adultery, she will manage to make other people believe that, but not herself.  Hester will always know that she has run away from the consequences of her actions, which will always prevent her from being truly happy. Pearl is a force that encourages Hester to do the right decisions, such as telling the truth, and not running away from the consequences of her actions.

To conclude, the relationship between Hester and Pearl is extremely complex, which allows many interpretations of how Pearl impacts her mother. One thing cannot be questioned, which is the fact that Pearl is one of the most important people in Hester’s life. With the birth of Pearl, many things changed in Hester’s life, such as the people’s’ attitude toward her, her perception of the society, and most importantly that she became extremely lonely because she had no one, expect the infant. As time passed on, Pearl became even more important in her mother’s life because she was the only person Hester could talk to, and that strengthened the bond between them. Like every other mother, Hester loves her daughter a lot and perceives her as her treasure. Pearl is the reason why Hester was able to continue being strong because she helped her mother be optimistic about the future, even though in the present they were surrounded by hate. By the end of the novel, Pearl is clearly established as a positive force in Hester’s life, even though, through the story, the children’s development is constantly being shifted, and cannot be compared to a straight line.