Scarlet Letter Pearl's Relationship Essay

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the relationship between Pearl and her mother, Hester, is portrayed in detail. However, the relationship between Pearl and her mysterious father is much less obvious but a very important relationship nonetheless. Hawthorne clearly portrays Pearl as an outcast from the day she was born. He describes her as impish, rowdy, and usual. What is obvious is that her mother’s sin, and as a result, outcast status has a profound affect on her daughter, but what is less obvious is that her father, or lack thereof, also heavily influences the person that Pearl becomes over the course of the novel. Pearl has innate knowledge of who her father is and she craves and demands his affection, which he aches to give

No one seems to view Pearl as even human. Immediately after her encounter with Dimmesdale, Mr. Wilson, once Pearl leaves, says she “hath witchcraft in her” (104). Furthermore, when Chillingworth and Dimmesdale see Hester and Pearl through the window, Chillingworth asks, “What, in Heaven’s name, is she... Hath she any discoverable principle of being?” (121). Since Dimmesdale cannot reveal his relationship or feelings towards Pearl, he responds neutrally that she is human but, “whether capable of good, I know not” (121). Although Dimmesdale cannot let Chillingworth see how he really feels towards his daughter, he still must defend her, and seems to be the only other person that regards her as a human

He calls for them and asks them to come up and join him. He grabs both Pearl by the hand and “the moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through his veins…” (138). Pearl and her father have such a connection that when they physically come together, they form an “election chain” (138). Both of them crave each other’s love. When Dimmesdale tells Pearl that he cannot yet hold her hand in public, in the daylight, she is deeply hurt and tried to let go of her father’s hand. Dimmesdale “held it fast”; he did not want to let her go (138). Here the reader sees a desperate cry of a father and daughter wanting to have a relationship, be a family, and hold each other’s hands. Pearl knows in her heart that Dimmesdale is her father, even though she does not get confirmation. Pearl provokes her mother saying, “what does this scarlet letter mean…and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?” (162). Hester refuses to answer these questions, but clearly Pearl knows the situation and is trying to get it out of her