The Evil Daughter From Hell

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester is heavily influenced by her daughter Pearl. A commonly asked question is if Pearl was sent from Satan or, if Pearl is a good  influence on Hester. This question is asked because Pearl was conceived in sin. Throughout the story, Pearl shows acts of kindness towards her mother, as well as signs of evil. She vacillates from good to bad, but the bad outweighs the good. She is a constant reminder to her mother of her sin. Pearl demonstrates consistently she is evil and is a bad influence on Hester because she is an unruly and precocious child.

Some may say Pearl is a positive influence on Hester; this is most likely because Pearl is Hester’s daughter, and she loves her unconditionally. Many people question if Pearl was sent from Satan. To this, she responds “I am my mother’s child,’ answered the scarlet vision, ‘and my name is Pearl!” (Hawthorne 101). She is just a devoted daughter who is standing up for her mother. If people are going to embarrass and make fun of her mother, Pearl is going to defend and protect her. She is just doing what any kind human would do. Later in the novel, Pearl is trying to save her mother from Satan. She says “Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl!” (Hawthorne 123). Here, Pearl is also protecting her mother. She cares for her and wants her to escape the evil man. Pearl is now taking on the role of a mother to protect Hester from getting hurt. Here are some strong examples of why some may think Pearl and Hester have a good relationship, but Pearl is actually sent from Satan and is a negative influence.  

Pearl was conceived in sin, this makes her Satan’s punishment for her mother’s  unrighteousness. She was sent to be a negative influence and ruin her mother’s life, which she does successfully. Pearl refuses to agree with her mother. The narrator says “After putting her finger in her mouth, with many ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilson’s questions, the child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison-door” (Hawthorne 103). Before this was spoken, Hester preaches to Pearl continuously reminding her to respond to Mr. Wilson that she was sent by her Heavenly Father. Pearl agrees she will. However, when he asks the question, she says she was ‘plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses’. Clearly, Pearl knew how she was to respond, but did not want to, because she is evil. When she says ‘grew by the prison door’ she is admitting she was waiting with Satan for her mother to come get her. When Hester did something evil (adultery), she got something evil (Pearl). Pearl would not listen to her mother. She says “Throughout all, however, there was a trait of passion, a certain depth of hue….The child could not be made amenable to rules” (Hawthorne 83). Pearl is a passionate girl, who will not be persuaded easily, these are positive traits. But, Pearl is very young, and should not know or do as much as she does for her age. When she was only four or five, ‘could not be made amenable to rules’. At this age, whatever her mother says, she should obey. It is clear she is here to ruin Hester’s life.

Hester may and should love Pearl because she is her daughter. But, Pearl is a negative influence on Hester, and a constant reminder of her sin. She would be better off in life without her daughter from Satan. Pearl is clearly not human, there is no way she is here for the good of her mother. Hester did something evil, so she got something evil. And the evil thing was Pearl.