Hester Prynn Essay, Research Paper

I can remember about six years ago when I realized that my parents were going to

be divorced. I never understood why something so horrible was happening to me. I

resented my parents for putting me through so much pain. I later realized my parents

were ending their marriage because my father had committed adultery. I hated my father

and felt sorry for my mother. I never ever looked at my father the same. I see myself as

having something in common with the character Pearl in the novel The Scarlet Letter. I

was not born a bastard, but we both were forced with the awful word of adultery placed

on our names. The Scarlet Letter is a book of much symbolism. One of the most complex

and misunderstood symbols in the book is Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne. Pearl and

Hester have a major conflict that in turns contributes to the meaning of the work.

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester, for her sins, received a scarlet letter, “A” which she

had to wear upon her chest. This was the Puritan way of treating her as a criminal, for the

crime of adultery. Hester would walk through the streets, she would be looked down

upon as if she were some sort of demon from Hell, that committed a terrible crime. This

would give her much mental anguish and grief. On the other hand, God?s treatment of

Hester for her sin was quite different than just a physical token: he gave Hester the

punishment of a very unique child which she named Pearl. This punishment handed down

from God was a constant mental and physical reminder to Hester of what she had done

wrong, and she could not escape it. In this aspect, Pearl symbolized God?s way of

punishing Hester for adultery.

The way Hester?s life was ruined for so long was the ultimate price that Hester paid

for Pearl. With Pearl, Hester?s life was one almost never filled with joy, but instead a

constant nagging. Pearl would harass her mother over the scarlet “A” which she wore.

Pearl would also make her own “A” to wear, and sometimes she played games with her

mother?s “A”, trying to hit it with rocks. When Hester would go into the town with Pearl,

the other children would make fun of her, and Pearl would yell and throw dirt at them.

Although Hester had so much trouble with Pearl, she still felt that Pearl was her

treasure. Pearl was really the only thing that Hester had in life, and if Pearl wasn?t in

Hester?s life, Hester would never have been able to go on. Once and a while, Pearl would

bring joy to Hester?s life, and that helped her to keep on living.

Pearl really was the scarlet letter, because if Pearl had never been born, Hester would

have never been found guilty of adultery, and thus never would have had to wear that

burden upon her chest. Without that burden, Hester would have led a much better life

then the one she had throughout the novel.

I never had to go through as much anguish as Pearl, mostly because adultery is

accepted, the President has even done it. Pearl represented the scarlet letter “A”, she was

a kind of burden, yet love for Hester. Pearl was more then her mother?s only treasure; she

was her mother?s only source of survival. The way that my parents love me with a never

ending love, this was too placed on Pearl and Hester.

Alison Chaffee