What Does Pearl Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

Pearl is a very interesting character in The Scarlet Letter. Hester views Pearl as another symbol of her sin, but there is much more to Pearls character, than just being a symbol. Throughout the book, Pearl is portrayed as very perceptive; she sees and, for the most part, understands everything that is happening. Using this, Pearl pushes other characters in the story to think about things in a different way, or remind them of something. Most of the time, she does this in the form of reminding Hester and others about Hester sin. Let's delve deeper into Pearl's character and her role in The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is very perceptive. She sees everything the other characters do, and tries to understand them. This can be shown in the line, "Now
she fixed her bright wild eyes on her mother, now on the minister, and now included them both in the same glance, as if to detect and explain to herself the relation which they bore to one another." This is the part in the book were Hester and Dimmesdale had been talking, and called for Pearl to come to them. On seeing her mother, Hester, talking with Dimmesdale, Pearl tries to come up with an explanation of why they would be talking. She wants to know everything. Even at an early age Pearl understood things that she should not have. This is evident in, "'Thy Heavenly Father sent thee!' answered Hester Prynne. But she said it with a hesitation that did not escape the acuteness of the child. Whether moved only by her ordinary freakishness, or because an evil spirit prompted her, she put up her small forefinger and touched the scarlet letter. 'He did not send me!' cried she, positively. "I have no Heavenly Father!"". Pearl should not be able to answer in this way. Hester never talked to Pearl about the scarlet letter, but Pearl knows she is linked to it. Pearl uses her acquit perception to push around other characters in the story. This can be shown in the following exert, "'Doth he love us?' said Pearl, looking up with acute intelligence into her mother's face. 'Will he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?'" In this exert, Pearl is trying to push Hester to have Dimmesdale join them, and become a family. She does this by using her knowledge of the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale to convince Hester that Dimmesdale should join them. Probably, Pearl's most emphasized characteristic is the fact she is a symbol of Hester's sin.
Pearl is the direct result of Hester's sin. This gives her much more power over Hester than the Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter was given to Hester by the people. Pearl was given to her directly by the sin. This power Pearl has over Hester is shown in the following exert, "There were both truth and error in the impression; the child and mother were estranged, but through Hester's fault, not Pearl's. Since the latter rambled from her side, another inmate had been admitted within the circle of the mother's feelings, and so modified the aspect of them all, that Pearl, the returning wanderer, could not find her wonted place, and hardly knew where she was." The part, "so modified the aspect of them all", can be viewed as talking about Hester's thoughts and feelings. This shows that Pearl has a lot of power over Hester, because Hester is always thinking about the connection between Pearl and her sin. In summary, Pearl is a very important character in the book. She knows everything that is happening, and how each event relates. Pearl then uses this information to guide and push other characters into doing things, and she is a very big symbol of Hester's
sin.