In Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the sin of adultery committed by Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne is seen by society to be very wrong. Placing great punishment on Hester Prynne causing her to wear a scarlet letter "A" representing adultery. Arthur Dimmesdale receiving only the punishment of his own guilt, for he could not reveal he was the other accompanied in the sin. Unlike society, nature was a place that paid no attention to sin; in fact it was a place of sin itself. Pearl, the black man, and Roger, bringing sin into the town from the forest, are example to the sin in the forest which symbolizes nature.
             In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is connected to nature. At one point in the book, Pearl throws pebbles and one of them hits a gray bird and it, " fluttered away with a broken wing" (160). Then it is said, " It grieved her to have done harm to a little being that was as wild as the sea breeze, or as wild as Pearl herself " (160). This quotation is saying that Pearl is like a wild bird in nature. Another quotation which shows Pearl as being a "nature child" is, "Pearl set forth at a great pace, and, as Hester smiled to perceive, did actually catch the sunshine and stood smiling in the midst of it" (166). Then later in the book, " Pearl took some eelgrass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was familiar on her mothers'. A letter, the letter "A"-but freshly green, instead of scarlet!" (160). By Pearl doing this, not only is her connection with nature seen, but also seen is Pearl's connection to sin. By putting the scarlet letter "A" of eelgrass on, it is like she is putting the symbol of nature as well as symbol of sin onto herself. By Pearl being the embodiment of Hester and Arthur's sin, as well as the nature child, connection between nature and sin is seen.
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