Embodiment of Sin

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne offers a look into the life of Hester Prynne, a young woman who committed adultery and conceived a child in the act. Her daughter named Pearl, is an unusual and lively child, but the novel makes the reader question if Pearl helps redeem her mother’s sin or is the living embodiment of it. This is significant to the novel because it proposes the idea of good and evil, and whether someone can be redeemed by the result of the sin itself. Pearl’s outlawing behavior, her defiance against Puritan society, and her fascination with the devil support that Pearl is, in fact, the embodiment of Hester’s sin.
One might argue that Pearl is Hester’s savior from darker places than even her sin has taken her. Hester says to Mister Hibbins, a known witch who invites her to join her in worshiping the devil, “I must tarry at home, and keep watch over my little Pearl. Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man’s book too, and that with mine own blood” (Hawthorne 80). Hester is refusing an offer to worship the devil with this woman because she was allowed to keep her child. In this scene, Pearl saves Hester from ‘signing’ herself away to the ‘Black Man’ which is the devil. However, Hester would not have been in this situation at the governor’s house if Pearl had not demonstrated such odd and elfish behavior. In this way, that Pearl is tormenting not redeeming her mother.
One way Pearl is a torment to her mother is in they way here actions are representative of the circumstances in which she was born. Pearl shows that she does not conform to the Puritan society when she refuses to believe she was “sent by the Heavenly Father” as Hester tells her (Hawthorne 67). The narrator then explains the townspeople viewing Pearl as a sign of the devil. The narrator recalls, “She remembered- betwixt a smile and a shudder- the talk of the neighbouring townspeople; who, seeking vainly elsewhere for the child’s paternity, and observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring; such as, ever since old Catholic times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their mothers’ sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose.” (Hawthorne 68). The townspeople believe based on Pearl’s behavior that she is a child of the devil. They searched ‘vainly elsewhere for the child’s paternity’ when it was clear that Pearl was not a complete human. Her ‘odd attributes’ made the townspeople think she was sent to Earth by the devil ‘to promote some foul and wicked purpose’ This was a common thought in this time, that if someone did not conform to Puritan society that they were associated with the devil. This shows that Pearl embodies her mother’s’ sin, and only makes it harder for Hester to endure her punishment of the scarlet letter.
Another example of a way Pearl is a torment to her mother is that she refuses to follow direction or conform to society in any way. She has no sense of authority, and does not at some times understand social norms or just does not want to fall in line with what she is expected to do. Hester and Pearl are beckoned to the Governor’s Hall because the clergymen, important men that embody the lord in the Puritan society, have noticed the strangeness and evil quality that Pearl shows. The enforcers of Puritan law want to determine whether Pearl is detrimental or beneficial to Hester’s redemption. The narrator observes, “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 76). This shows Pearl’s sense of rebellion. Instead of agreeing she was sent to Earth by God, as she was carefully taught, she exclaims she was “plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses”. This shows she is ‘wild’, not only a flower, a wild flower. Her mother had trained her to be faithful to God. However, in this moment when Pearl’s life with her mother is on the line, she deliberately defies the Puritan beliefs and society. This defiance signifies that she is a child of the devil not the lord.
Pearl continues throughout the book to bring up the devil, and witchcraft. All things that are the ultimate evil to the Puritan society. She seems fascinated with the idea of evil, and sees it in people, that other’s would not. She sees old Roger Chillingworth in his window and shouts to her mom, “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 92). Pearl has a sense of the devil and what is evil. She sees things that others do not see, and is not afraid of the Puritan law enough to keep quiet. Although, this could be taken as brave, it has a significant negative effect on her mother. Hester takes the blame, from the townspeople, for Pearl’s appearance of oddness and obvious fascination with sin and evil. The townspeople believe because Pearl says things like, ‘Come away, or yonder Black Man will catch you!’ that Hester is either worshiping the devil, or Hester’s sin has taken a place inside of Pearl and made her think of and speak of the devil often. This impression of Pearl only outlaws Hester more from society.
Because of the oddness of Pearl’s actions, her lack of cooperation, and her fascination with evil it is clear that she is a torment to her mother. Her actions and words go against all the Puritan values. She has no sense of God and even suggests she does not believe in him when she claims she was ‘plucked from a rose bush’ instead of getting sent down from her Heavenly Father. She is believed by the townspeople to be sent here by the devil to fulfill a ‘foul and wicked purpose’. This creates only more of a social divide between Hester and the rest of the Puritan society. Hester not only has to bear her scarlet letter, but she also has to be branded by her illegitimate child. Not only does Pearl reinstate her sin, she drags Hester away from any possibility of being redeemed. She feels attached to Hester’s letter and throws a fit when she takes it off. When hester abandons her scarlet letter, the representation of her sin, Pearl feels abandoned too. Pearl’s clear connection to the devil, her defiance against society, and the fact that she will not let Hester escape her scarlet letter shows Pearl is the living embodiment of her mother’s sin