Pearl: A Guide to The Scarlet Letter's Chapter 6
The Scarlet Letter Chapter 6: Pearl
In the last chapter, we saw how Hester lives as an outcast. Now, we meet the person at the center of her world: her daughter, Pearl.
This chapter is all about Pearl, who is not your average child. She is beautiful, but she is also wild, defiant, and seems to have a strange understanding of her mother's sin. She is a living, breathing version of the scarlet letter.
Let's meet this unforgettable character.
1. Hester's Only Treasure
Hester names her daughter "Pearl" because she came at a great price. She is her mother's only treasure, bought with everything Hester had. Her reputation, her place in society, and her peace.
Pearl is both a source of immense love and constant pain for Hester. She is a beautiful reminder of a moment of passion, but also a daily, living symbol of her shame.
I once adopted a rescue dog who was my best friend, my treasure. But he came with a lot of anxiety from his past, which meant a lot of work and patience. He was a source of incredible joy, but also a constant, heavy responsibility. It's a small echo of what Hester feels: a deep, protective love for something that is also a heavy burden.
2. A Child of Passion
Pearl is described as a beautiful child, full of life and energy. But there's a "defiance" in her eyes. Hester refuses to dress her in the plain, somber clothes of the other Puritan children.
Instead, she uses her amazing needlework skills to dress Pearl in rich, elaborate outfits, often in bright red. It's as if she is making her daughter a living companion to the scarlet "A" on her own chest.
This is a powerful act of defiance. Instead of letting her daughter be a symbol of shame, Hester turns her into a symbol of beauty and richness. It's her way of saying to the community, "You can't control the meaning of this. You gave me a scarlet letter, and I gave you a child who is just as vibrant and impossible to ignore."
3. An Elfish, Lonely Spirit
Pearl doesn't play with the other children. In fact, she seems to hate them, throwing rocks and screaming at them if they get too close.
She has a wild, unpredictable nature. One moment she is happy, the next she is in a fiery rage. Hawthorne calls her an "elf," a "sprite," and an "imp." She lives in her own world, creating imaginary friends out of sticks and flowers.
Often, children who are seen as 'wild' are simply reflecting the world they live in. Pearl has grown up in isolation, only knowing her mother's love and the town's hatred. She hasn't learned the quiet rules of Puritan society because she's never been a part of it. Her wildness is a natural product of her unnatural upbringing.
4. Obsessed with the Scarlet Letter
From the time she was a tiny baby, Pearl has been fascinated by her mother's scarlet letter.
It was the first thing she ever reached for. As she grows up, she is constantly playing with it, touching it, and even throwing flowers at it. Her innocent questions about the letter feel like a form of torture to Hester.
Pearl is the living embodiment of the truth. While the adults whisper and hide, Pearl is drawn to the one thing that is out in the open. She represents the raw, untamed truth of the passion that created her. She can't be reasoned with or made to fit into a neat box, because the truth itself is often messy and complicated.
5. Where Did You Come From?
The most painful moment in the chapter is when Hester asks Pearl who sent her here. Hester tries to tell her that her "Heavenly Father" sent her, but Pearl refuses to accept it.
Instead, she points to the scarlet letter and says she has no Heavenly Father. It's a moment of shocking, almost cruel, honesty. It confirms Hester's deepest fear: that her daughter is not a blessed child, but a living consequence of her sin.
It reminds me of the story 'The Emperor's New Clothes.' The adults all go along with the lie, but it's a child who blurts out the obvious truth: "He isn't wearing any clothes!" Pearl does the same thing. She doesn't understand the complex social rules. She just points to the truth that is right there on her mother's chest.
6. Key Quotes About Pearl
Here are two quotes that perfectly capture Pearl's strange, symbolic nature.
Quote 1: Her Name's Meaning
Hester chose her daughter's name carefully to represent the immense price she paid for her.
Modern language: "Hester named her Pearl. Not for her calm, white sheen, but because she was precious. Bought at a great cost. Her mother’s only treasure."
Original wording: "But she named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price—purchased with all she had—her mother’s only treasure! How strange, indeed!" (Chapter 6)
Quote 2: A Lawless Child
Hawthorne describes Pearl as a child who cannot be controlled, a direct result of the broken law that created her.
Modern language: " Pearl couldn't follow rules, being the result of breaking a great law. She was a mix of beauty and brilliance, but in a chaotic way. Hester tried to understand her child's character. She vaguely remembered what she had been going through while pregnant with Pearl. Hester’s passionate spirit passed to her unborn child. It had colored Pearl’s moral life."
Original wording: "The child could not be made amenable to rules. In giving her existence a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder, or with an order peculiar to themselves, amidst which the point of variety and arrangement was difficult or impossible to be discovered" (Chapter 6)
Chapter 6 introduces us to one of the most fascinating characters in American literature. Pearl is a constant source of mystery and torment, and she will be central to the story as it unfolds.
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Read the guide to Chapter 7: The Governor's Hall →

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