Pearl, the living symbol of Hester’s sin of adultery is a very complex character. She is present in almost every scene with Hester, rarely by her side. However her character remains somewhat in the shadows at all times. She is difficult to understand, she is passionate and wild, and she does not obey any rules but those she wishes to. Her moods seem to change quickly, at times she seems as if she were put on earth to torment her mother for her acts of adultery. At other times she is sweet and loving of her mother. Pearl is said to “react according to her particular feeling of the moment” possibly paralleling the passion of her mother and Dimmesdale. Hester describes Pearl as a “ face, fiend-like, full of smiling malice” I do not know if she sees Pearl as evil or possessed or rather just as wild
The townspeople also look down upon Pearl because she is a child of sin, the product of adultery and they outcast her as much as Hester. Although many people see an evil in Pearl God and nature seem to see something different.
Whether Pearl is good or evil, human or fiend I am not sure. As a character she is very complex, but many humans share the same complexity. Pearl was a wild heart but evil, I do not believe she possessed. She may have represented something evil and reminded others of an evil act, but in herself does this make her soul evil? I do not believe so, Pearl shared a difficult life with her mother, she simply became rough around the edges and strong as any human in such a situation would do to overcome the pain and torment that she was subject to.
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