Pearl reminds Hester of the scarlet letter. This is because Hester made her a beautiful robe, similar to how she made the scarlet letter beautiful. Pearl is the sin of the letter in embodied in flesh. Every moment Hester is reminded of the letter, even her own daughter is a symbol of it, and it gives her unbearable pain. Pearl also often points at the letter evilly, and is a constant reminder of her sin. Hester will live with this pain from Pearl because she seeks redemption.
Will Pearl be as truly evil as Hester suspects her to be?
2) "She is my happiness!—she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!" (103).
Hester refuses to give Pearl up. She says that Pearl is what gives her happiness, but also punishes her. She claims that Pearl is more powerful then the scarlet letter because she is alive. Hester will not give Pearl up even though she seems to be evil and punishes her. This is because Hester believes that every bad thing that happens to her is a consequence of her sin, which she much suffer through in order to receive redemption. She says she will die without Pearl because she needs Pearl to be redeemed.
Will Pearl be taken away?
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