Pearl and Her Name.

Pearl is both a symbol and a character because she represents Hester's sin and she also represents gods love and forgiveness, Along with the good of the whole affair. Hester’s thing with Reverend Master Dimmsdale is seen as a horrible and shameful thing by the judges and townspeople. They give her mean looks and they barley give her the time of day. Her, the letter, and pearl are all reminder to her and the town of her wrong doing. “One token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another. (Hawthorne, 46)” Here she is walking in front of all the people holding pearl tight to her chest. It is kind of ironic because she is doing it out of affection and to try and cover the letter but pearl also proves Hester has done wrong. God has given her a child. Society is contradicting god in the way that it is trying to take away her child by following rules and conformity. If god is rewarding her with a precious beautiful baby, is it possible that this event is not a sin? Pearl is a precious thing to Hester. She is all she got and at the same time she is all her “troubles” but that does not matter to Hester because she doesn’t feel she has done wrong. “But sometimes, once in many days, or perchance in many months, she felt an eye—a human eye—upon the ignominious brand, that seemed to give a momentary relief, as if half of her agony were shared. The next instant, back it all rushed again, with still a deeper throb of pain; for, in that brief interval, she had sinned anew. (Hawthorne, 77)” Here she sins again. From this I see that she does not care. Pearl is a symbol of sin to all others but Hester. In Hester’s eyes she is a gift from god, a beauty and her whole life. Her name even proves it. Pearl is Hester's pearl.