The Pearl of Great Price A parable in the Bible teaches us of a man who sells all of his belongings in order to purchase a pearl. This pearl is described as of being of great price. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne we meet Pearl, a product of passion and sin, but is that all she's made up to be or is Pearl's price greater than what is expected. Pearl functions as a symbol throughout the novel. She is the living embodiment of the A and serves as a reminder to her mother of all that she has done. When upon the scaffold Hester resists the urge to cover the scarlet A marking her chest by using Pearl, but realizes she would just be covering her sin with more sin. Pearl is very insightful and imaginative. She is curious which can be seen when the girl perseveres throughout the novel by questioning her mother about the ever present A blossoming on her chest. We can see how she is the embodiment of the A by the way Hester dresses her, in pinks and reds just as the scarlet letter that Hester wears. As a reminder of her sin, Pearl serves as an important chess piece in Hester's own character development. As was mentioned she …show more content…
She is the rosebush that grows by her mother's prison door, the only beautiful and colorful thing in site. In the novel she is the only true and honest character. She can be brutally honest and often shows her mother, Hester, morals she did not know. At the beginning of the novel Hawthorne suggests that the rosebush will bring about some sweet moral blossom. Pearl is the wild and untamed rose that grows unbidden and untamed. Pearls can be something beautiful that comes out of something ugly. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is seen as a product of passion and sin on the outside, but she serves a greater purpose than just a reminder. She is the flower plucked from the rosebush; the Pearl of Great