Thesis Paper The Scarlet Letter: Hawthorne shapes pearl's character in a way to symbolize the sins committed by Dimmesdale and Hester.

The Scarlet Letter is a novel that explores both sin and the moral values it infers between man and God. Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter takes place in early Puritan Boston. The Puritan faith strongly emphasized moral values and strictly governed the people. Throughout the course of the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne shapes Pearl's character in a way that serves as a living symbol of the sins committed by Hester and …

…adorning herself in scarlet garments. In sum, Hawthorne fully succeeded in crafting Pearl's character as a mirrored reflection of the scarlet letter and its associated meanings. His novel, The Scarlet Letter, is abound with symbolic mechanisms, many of which support this relationship between Pearl and the letter. It is in this way that Pearl and the letter can be viewed as two versions of the same symbolic device, both contrived by the same sinful act.