The British novelist Fay Weldon offers an observation about happy endings through moral developments and moral reconciliation rather than through mere fortunate events. The Scarlet Letter unquestionably contains references to these ideas within it. Moral development refers to the ways we classify right from wrong as through growth and maturity. Generalizing that children do not have the same level of moral development as adults. Moral reconciliation is also a huge theme throughout the scarlet letter. This moral reconciliation is best described as a form of restorative justice in which wrongdoers attempt to repair the relationship between themselves and their victims and, by doing so, achieve a moral transformation. Both of these moral ideas approach in the novel when the influence of the past on the present had been in some ways destroyed. The influence of the past on the present similarly plays a great role within the novel, relative to both moral ideas and other important aspects contributing to the happy ending. Through moral development, moral reconciliation, and the …show more content…
Throughout the entirety of the novel we watch as Pearl grows up, right from the moment she was born and the duration of seven years, along with her future. We also watch Pearl’s day to day struggles she must battle as she was born ostracized in her Puritan community. The townspeople show neither Pearl nor her mother any sense of respect due to Hester's adulterous action. Through Hester’s suffering she still fought through to teach Peral as best as she could. Pearl developed as a clueless baby to an overly curious child, even questioning the Scarlet Letter worn by her mother and why Dimmesdale also held his hand over his heart. But it wasn’t until Dimmesdale’s moment of moral reconciliation, that Pearl’s odd request of sorrow had been fulfilled. Her father’s sorrow had now made her