Pain is Temporary

Pearl is the most negative, condescending, and demanding part of Hester’s life, yet she is the one thing keeping her alive. In The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne’s daughter Pearl as a symbol of peace and a natural way of life during the corrupt society of the Puritans. Pearl will hurt her mother with no remorse, telling her the ugly and hard to hear truth. The truth that no one else would tell her. The weaknesses

that Hester tries to hide, Pearl will be the first to point out. The pain of one’s biggest fears and darkest parts made public is immense, and having the pain caused by the one person you love most can be tragic. Pearl is Hester’s label, she is what she is known for; this label of a sin of a disgrace becomes Hester. This purpose Hester now has because of  Pearl gives her a name, a meaning. Pearl gives Hester a responsibility as a parent, giving her another life to care for other than her own. This keeps Hester from straying to a sinful path, Pearl being a sin keeps her mother moral.

Pearl’s truthfulness is both a blessing and a curse. She can cause Hester an immense pain that nobody else can, yet Pearl is the only one who will give Hester that unfortunate reality.  Honesty is the best quality a human can have, those who are always honest are typically disliked. That is an understandable concept; nobody likes to hear the truth when it is painful. As humans, emotions are a huge and controlling factor in life. Pushing down and avoiding emotions only works for so long. Pearl makes Hester feel the pain of honesty, something that is very difficult to hear and have to be told regularly.

The reality that Pearl brings to Hester’s attention is difficult but necessary. Such as the fact Dimmesdale will never publicly be with either of them. This is a harsh topic that Hester does not want to believe, she knows it herself but does not want to face the truth or have to hear it from somebody else. The truth is harsh but accurate and Hester needed to hear it “Pearl either saw and responded to her mother’s feelings, or herself felt the remoteness and intangibility that had fallen around the minister… ‘What would the minister have said, mother? Would he have clapped his hand over his heart, and scowled on and bid me begone?’”(Hawthorne 219-220). This truth is immensely painful to Hester, the reality of Dimmesdale and his unwillingness to come forward and confess his sin to be with Pearl and Hester as a family. Pearl needed to tell her mother the truth because nobody else was going to, there is no other soul to tell her and Hester needed to hear the harsh reality of the situation that Dimmesdale with never lose-face in such a way to publically be with Hester, as well as Pearl.

The strength Pearl’s honesty gives Hester is underlying; telling Hester the truth and pointing out the weaknesses Hester attempts to hide makes her a stronger and more independent individual. Pearl forces Hester to face the things she fears and is not letting her hide behind a mask. Pearl especially draws attention to the A, Hester’s biggest weakness. A particular time Pearl does this is when she and Hester were at the governor’s mansion and Hester sees her reflection in a suit of armor. Pearl points out how obvious her A is “And she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance.”(Hawthorne 91). Another example of this is Pearl and Hester’s reflections in the brook. Here Pearl is seen as a symbol of adultery and the letter itself “And beneath, in the mirror of the brook, there was the flower-girdled and sunny image of little Pearl, pointing her small forefinger too.”(Hawthorne 193). At this moment Pearl is perceived as mean and devil-like, but Pearl’s fascination with the letter and her subconscious awareness of its meaning and connection to her is crucial in her relationship with her mother. Pearl knows the letter has a connection to herself. When she draws her attention to it and makes her mother acknowledge the letter and its meaning, Pearl is helping Hester face the meaning and the truth of the A and this helps her accept the A, which can be symbolic for Pearl as part of her and a part of her being. That is a large role in Pearl’s character showing and bringing these to her mother’s attention and bettering her as a person. Pearl’s natural connection to the forest and the nature around her signifies her significance and pure ability, to be honest, and speak the truth and say the things that others do not dare to. Pearl is a symbol of nature and beauty in the forest, which she has such a strong connection with nature and the forest which the Puritans are scared of, therefore see reason to fear both Hester and Pearl. The connection Pearl has with nature is seen in this scene, it truly amplifies Pearl’s beauty and purity “see with what natural skill she has made those simple flowers adore her! Had she gathered pearls, and diamonds and rubies that could not have become her better.” (Hawthorne 159). Pearl’s openness with nature and truth defines her connection with her mother and effect on her.

Pearl’s effect on her mother is very deep and complex. Hester’s source of life comes from Pearl. From the very beginning, Pearl is the reason Hester continues to live when Hester’s sin was considered punishable by death, Pearl was the reason her punishment was lightened. Pearl is seen as a source of evil in the town, a devil child. To the Puritans view, any person who does not follow nor go by their strict beliefs, they are then portrayed as evil. Pearl who has a deep connection with nature and the forest, which is what the townspeople fear, is then considered evil. Pearl is natural, she does not follow the ideas of the Puritans with harsh punishments and strict rules, she was conceived in sin. She is different. Pearls difference is keeping Hester alive. This natural, beautiful, child that speaks the truth and does not fear the forest if holding Hester’s drowning head above the water. She saved her.

Honesty, strength, life, those are what Pearl provides to Hester. Pearl’s honesty keeps Hester true and in reality, her strength keeps Hester progressing and growing as a woman, and her life, her natural and beautiful way of life gives her mother a new sense of life. Pearl is natural she is free and she is the best thing for Hester to have in her life.