Children have an undeniable amount of innocent honesty. In the novel, “The Scarlet Letter”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the protagonist Hester Prynne is faced with a moral combat of adultery in puritan new england, bearing a daughter from her forbidden doing. There is a large amount of symbolism throughout this story that is played out through children. Hawthorne highlights Pearl, the product of Hester’s sin, as having a perverse, unnerving amount of bold knowledge, unlike that of the children her age. When properly raised, young people develop essential and personable traits to help them mature into adults. There are some communication skills that can only be learned through trial and error process, and those skills help children to grow into …show more content…
When a younger child does something wrong, or inappropriate, it is the parent’s job to discipline them in varying ways to understand the wrong they may have done. They are taught to approach conflict differently, depending on what it is the parent aims to gain from their disciplining. “ In each developmental stage, children gradually expand their capacity to balance their personal rights, needs, and wants with those of others. As children learn to do that, they develop constructive social skills as well as their own character”(Stephens). In this quote, Stephens explains further that children truly need to have positive reinforcement to encourage proper development in their stages through trial and error. Young people in the book, “The Scarlet Letter” have a substantial role in separating Pearl from the norm. In the novel, it is observed that the children act as though Pearl is very outlandish, though they do not understand what sin she emerged from. This is from improper introduction to unfamiliar subjects to what the children know, meaning that the parents haven’t yet taught the children how to go about the sensitive topic of sinners and how Pearl had been begotten. The children can sense that Pearl is unlike themselves, and treat her as an outsider when they interact with