The Scarlet Letter: Is Pearl A Child, A Guide, Or A Monster?

Is Pearl a child, a guide, or a monster ?

Pearl is the only child among the main characters of the book, and she doesn't really influence the plot. Nevertheless, she is not less important than the other characters. If we assume that the characters of the fiction are meant to make the reader think, Pearl is meant to make the characters of the story think. Even her mother wonders who she is: " O Father in Heaven,- if Thou art still my Father,- what is this being which I have brought into the world! " (p119). Following the example of hester, let's think about it. Is pearl a child, a guide, or a monster? But can we describe her as only one of those three characters? Maybe the right question is : For whom is she a child, a guide, or a monster? We assume that Pearl is a complex character, and that her curious mind can be interpreted differently depending of the personn looking at her. First, we will look at the relationship between the child and her mother. Then, we will think of the place of such a child in a puritan community. Finally, we will question the position of a modern reader.

Pearl is the alive symbol of Hester's sin. We guess that the fault has been revealed by the obvious pregnancy of
Hester a few month after her nights with Dimmesdale. But even after her birth, everything is done to assimilate Pearl to her mother's sin. She's dressed in the same red as the letter that symbolize the infamy, and with the same luxury : " Her mother [...]had bought the richest tissues that could be procured, and allowed her imaginative faculty its full play in the arrangement and decoration of the dresses which the child wore, before the public eye. " (p.114). The art of her mother is used to exhaust her beauty with gorgious clothes that dress her as a doll. It seems that Hester sins by pride, as well as by lust. She's a reflect of her mother as a child. She symbolizes the growing rebellion of Hester against the rules of te puritan society. But Hester is not really a figure of rebellion. She believes in God, in her fault, and in her shame. She's incredibly strong. But if the embroidered letter is an act of pride, I think it's rather the pride of the martyr who loves his suffering in a masochist way, rather than the pride of a free mind defying the society. Hester is a saint. It's strange that the the comparison between her and the virgin Mary is not more important (I think there is only one allusion in the first chapter), because of the thematic of the child without a father – And the adultery woman is also a thematic of the new testament. Hester is a saint – not because of the absence of sin, but because of her redemption and her suffering.
That's why I don't really see the scarlet letter as a feminist novel. Hester is not fighting for her rights. She thinks she deserves the punishment. Otherwise she would not wear the letter on her bossom so long, and permanently. She has no asking, except the right of raising her child. This matter to her. That's why the novel is so fascinating, because she's a very complex character, dividing between her faith and her feelings. Ans so she doesn't know how to behave with Pearl, because she doesn't know if this child is a curse or a reward, a punishement or a gift – but maybe also because she's not sure that she can raise her in a proper way. She, the
sinner. Pearl has no faith. She is what Hester could have been, if her punishment had changed her mind about religion. And I think Hester fears her child – although she loves her in the same time. She fears her child because she doesn't understand her. That's why she doesn't raise Pearl in a very tough way, as we could have expected her to do. She's effrayed of Pearl, and somehow fascinated by her strange character. " O Father in Heaven,- if Thou art still my Father,- what is this being which I have brought into the world! " (p119).

But Pearl is her child, so she can't help but love her – even she's afraid. This is not the case of the community, for whom the child is a threat, an evil creature.

Pearl is a free spirit. Her mind is not bounded by the puritan doctrin, nor by any belief in a mighty God. She's always described as an elvish-child, or a mermaid when she plays on the beach, or as a dryad in the woods. That makes of her a symbol of nature, that means a natural religion in wich the body is a part of the character of a people – wich is not the case in the puritan society. Puritans see the body as something suspicious that you have to beware of. The body represent the sexuality. It's because of her use of her body that Hester is comdamned to wear the letter of infamy. But on the bosom of the child, the green letter is the A of Atheist, rather than the one of Adultery. The body of the child is free : she runs, she jumps, she's always moving with little restrictions. We learn that " [...]her aspect, [...] had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison. " (p.113) with a pearl. A "calm, white, unimpassioned lustre" sounds like a description of the ideal puritan soul. But for the community, Pearl is " An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants. " (p.117). So, when they gather around her, she throws them stones, with exclamations that had "the sound of a witch anathemas in some unknown tongue."(p.118) But what tongue could the puritan speak, expect the narrow language of religion? This is the evil aspect of Pearl. From a religious point of view, a fortiori a puritan religion, she's a monster because she doesn't respect the rules of the society, think by herself, and dare to ask questions.

This is a threat for a community in which silence, obedience, and shame are the rules. And Hawthorne writes that "the little Puritans, being of the most intolerant brood that ever lived, etc." (118). So, what's the use of creating a child so clever and free?

Pearl has a role to play among the other characters. As the only freethinker of the story, she makes the other characters think about what happen. Everybody tries to hide something. Chillinworth wants to hide his identity, Hester and Dimmesdale want to hide their relation, and the community wants to hide that they are not better that hester (Cf. when Dimmesdale feels like saying naughty things to his parishioners to reveal them the truth abour themselves.). Pearl is the one who ask questions. And she does'nt reveal what she knows, she wants the people to tell the truth themselves, as a proof that they take responsability for it. That's why she wants her mother to put the letter back on her bossom in the woods. She knows it's not gonna be that easy, and that they can't be free unless ther reveal the truth. For the reader of Hawthorne's time, a fortiori for us, Pearl is guide an enlightened mind fighting against the obscurantism of the religion, that makes people hide the truth. And how could we live happy, when we live a lie?

We've seen three aspects of Pearl character in those brief notes. Is Pearl a child, a monster, or a guide? The tree of them. For Hester, Pearl is a child – her child – and she questions her feeling about her sin. She's divided between her faith and her feeling, as she's divided between her love and her fear for the child. For the community, Pearl is a monster, imp of the evil. She has no faith, she looks like a pagan creature of a natural religion, a fairy or a dryad who plays with her beautifull body. And she doesn't respect the rules. For us, the little child appears as a guide. She asks questions, try to find out who is her father, and she tries to help Hester and Dimmesdale to solve their problem. As we all have a different view of the world, the same character can have different meanings for us. Hawthorne himself writes : " In this one child, there were many children ." (p.114) Maybe that's another lesson that Pearl can teach us : the world is so complex, we can't simplify it to what we believe is the truth.

The edition used is Penguin classic, printed in 1987 (I think...).
ISBN 0-14- 039019-7
The pages of the quotations refer to this edition.

(1472 words)