With her kiss bequeathed to Arthur Dimmesdale in Chapter
XXIII, little Pearl finally becomes truly human. An impetuous "elf-child," an "imp," an
"airy sprite" given to capricious and mischievous behavior in previous chapters Pearl
both laughs uncontrollably and then has fits of temper, and has thrown burrs around her
mother's scarlet letter and has refused to cross the brook. Certainly, there is
something other-worldly about her until the events of Chapter XXIII bring her into the
world of humanity on the scaffold.
Up until this point,
Hawthorne has employed Pearl more as symbol than character. The obvious symbol of her
parents' sin, Pearl at times
writhed in convulsion of....the moral agony which
Hester Prynee had borne throughout the
day.
In addition to
representing the sin of Hester and the minister, Pearl has also been symbolic of the
"warfare of Hester's spirit." Pearl plays an active part as symbol as her questions and
actions torment her mother. For instance, in Chapter XVI, Pearl
observes,
the
sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of
somehting on your bosom.
With
regard to Dimmesdale, Pearl is also a symbolic reminder of his sin. In the first
scaffold scene, for example,
The poor baby..directed its hitherto vacant gaze
towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little
arms....
An older Pearl
articulates this desire to be recognized by Dimmesdale, asking him, "Wilt thou stand
here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide?" When Dimmesdale refuses, Pearl tries to
pull away, and later complains, "Thou was not bold!--thou wast not
true!"
However, in the final scaffold scene when Pearl
kisses the minister's lips, Pearl's function as a symbol has been completed as
Dimmesdale does take the final step in confessing his
sin:
Pearl kissed his lips. A spell was
broken....and as her tears fell upon her father's cheek, they were the pledge that she
would grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a
woman in it. Towards her mother, too, Pearl's errand as a messenger of anguish was all
fulfilled.
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