Pearl is the young daughter of Hester and serves mainly as a symbol in The Scarlet Letter. First of all her name is symbolic. The name Pearl implies purity and serenity. Pearl is pure because she is new to the world and is innocent. Pearl is Hester's only treasure in the world, which is another meaning to the name. Yet another meaning for her name is that a pearl is valued as a gem and takes time to become beautiful. A pearl is weathered by rough objects and eventually becomes beautiful. Pearl in the novel goes through many hard times in her life to find out who she truly is. A pearl is a gem and implies great wealth; this implies something about Pearl's future. She eventually grows up to become a lady of great wealth in her adulthood.
             In contrast to Hester, Pearl is dressed in extravagant clothing. She is always dressed in bright colors such as scarlet. This is in defiance of the Scarlet Letter and is a symbol of her free spirit.
             Also scarlet is significant because red represents Satan. The Puritans believed that Hester's letter was the mark of the devil. Her letter also represented Pearl. Pearl was the living Scarlet Letter. She is the result of Hester's sin and she always has Pearl around, just like the letter is always on her chest. Pearl is a living reminder of Hester's sin.
             Another connection of Pearl to the Scarlet Letter is when she fashions a letter for herself to wear. She makes it out of seaweed which is green, and is the color of life. This shows Pearl's innocence to the world and how she likes being in nature.
             Pearl is always happiest in nature. Pearl is also wild and free spirited. This can be related to the natural but not official union of Hester and Dimmesdale. They loved each other and were free from society's tie downs. Also the nature relationship shows that they were trying to get away from Puritan forms of life and lived the best in the natur...