“The soul that has conceived one wickedness can nurse no good thereafter.” – Sophocles. Sophocles mentions the importance of good and the terrible effects that it has on a soul. Hester might be that soul, and the scarlet letter is the sin that corrupts her. Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester commits the sin of disobeying the seventh commandment: Thou Shalt not commit Adultery. Because of this, Hester is cursed to wear the letter “A” for adultery on her chest. In the novel, that letter is commonly referred to as the Scarlet Letter. As an insult to injury, God gifts Hester with a beautiful girl named Pearl. Throughout the novel, Pearl has been described as this angelic witch, who is a burden to her mother. Yet, Hester describes her as a beautiful burden. However, this beautiful burden has terrible traits of her own. In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is portrayed as a living embodiment of sin, and destruction. Because of having sex with Dimmesdale and giving birth to Pearl, Hester committed the wickedness of adultery, and no matter how much she tries, she cannot get away from the sin and destruction that follows her in the shape of Pearl.
Pearl is the living embodiment of sin because she is the offspring of someone who directly violated the seventh commandment. Hester describes Pearl as the “shadowy reflection of the evil that had existed within herself”(Hawthorne 85). No matter how much Hester tries to escape her pain, anguish, and frustration that had accompanied her with the scarlet letter, she must come back to it. Pearl is that pain, anguish, and desperation. Pearl is the root of the evil that Hester felt within herself for such a long time. When Hester takes off the scarlet letter and says that “she had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom”(Hawthorne 186). Hester felt free and amazing. She felt as if she had finally let go of the weight of adultery. Soon after taking off the sin and feeling the freedom, she is reminded of what holds her down: her burden. By taking off the scarlet letter, Pearl no longer recognises her mother. Pearl grew up seeing Hester as a woman of pain, anguish, gloom, and desperation, but that is not what she saw now. Pearl saw a woman that felt free, and happy, and she needed to get her mother back. In refusing to recognise her mother until she put back on the scarlet letter, Peal refused to recognize her mother until she saw the pain, anguish, gloom, and desperation again within her. And by making that statement, Pearl is the burden on her mother that will always remind Hester that she is the production of something evil that she had once done. Pearl is the living embodiment of Hester’s sin, and Hester will never escape it.
Not only does Pearl remind Hester of what she has done, she also sows destruction within Hester’s life because she resembles a time of happiness that was destroyed. Throughout the novel, Pearl destroyed many things, be it unknowingly, or on purpose. Hawthorne describes Pearl as being “wild”, one who doesn’t obey society and wreaks havoc on those around her. In one instance of Pearl’s destruction: “Perceiving a flock of beach-birds, that fed and fluttered along the shore, the naughty child picked up her apron full of pebbles, and, creeping from rock to rock after these small sea-fowl, displayed remarkable dexterity in pelting them. One little gray bird, with a white breast, Pearl was almost sure, had been hit by a pebble and fluttered away with a broken wing,”(Hawthorne 161). Pearl felt bad for destroying something as wild as herself, but by breaking the birds wing, it gives the notion that Pearl still has the evil within herself to be able to destroy something that shares so many qualities with her. Breaking that bird can be a parallel for the idea that she is also breaking her mother. Pearl is the certain destruction within Hester’s life that both holds her together but also tears her apart.
One could say that Pearl is the living embodiment of love, life, and happiness in Hester’s life. Pearl is the only thing that holds Hester together in these times of darkness; and can be argued that if Pearl was not in Hester’s life, the novel would be much different. Yet, one cannot argue that Pearl came from the offspring of sin and evil. This love, life, and happiness stemmed from sin and evil. Then if one wants to push their luck, it can be said that Hester’s love, life, and happiness were because of the sin of adultery. No matter what, Hester’s virtue will always come from Pearl, and Pearl came from Hester’s sin. Thus Hester will always suffer because of it.
Throughout the novel, Pearl has been the living embodiment of sin, and destruction. Because of this, Hester must live with her sin for the rest of her life. Hester will never be able to get rid of the pain, anguish, and desperation that accompanies her as the scarlet letter because even if Hester sheds the letter, she must always live with Pearl. As much as Hester wants to be free from her sin, she will never be able to let go of Pearl because she is the light in her world of darkness. In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is the Yin and Yang of Hester’s life, and she will never destroy that balance.