Hester's Joy and Torture

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about a young woman, Hester Prynne, who commits adultery and has a child from her mistake. Hester Pyrnne lives in a Puritan town and adultery is a huge sin during this time, therefore when the Governor and Minister find out about her child, who has no father, she is required to wear the letter "A" on her chest as punishment for her sin. Hawthorne includes Pearl in the novel to show how something good can come from something that is bad. Throughout the novel, the joys and times of hardship are shown. In this novel, Hester's daughter, Pearl, is Hester's joy and torture.
Most mothers love their children no matter what. In the novel, Pearl is seen as Hester's light and joy in life considering Pearl is all she has left. When Hestser is required to wear the letter "A," she is seen as an outcast in society and is looked down upon. The letter "A" makes her excluded, and she moves out to the countryside. No one in her town would dare be friends with her,other than the witches, because of the reputation they would receive by being her confidant. Also, it is easy for Hester to be with Pearl because she knows that Pearl does not judge her because she does not know the meaning of the letter "A" on her chest, therefore, Pearl is Hester's only joy, it is proven that this is so when Hester begs the Govenor not to take her away and exclaims, "God gave me the child!He gave her in requital of all thing else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness!-she is my torture , none the less! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable for being loved, and so endowed with a millionfold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!" Hester truly loves Pearl; she would rather die than to have Pearl taken from her.
Not only is Pearl, Hester's, joy in life, but she is also seen as her torture (as Hawthorne writes in the novel). Pearl's existence makes the scarlet letter, not the piece of fabric, but the birth of this child through sin. The first thing that catches Pearl's eye as an infant is the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom. When Pearl asks about this, it tortures, and it punishes Hester because she can not explain to Pearl why she has to wear the letter. As Pearl reminds Hester of her sin, it almost brings Hester to resent her own flesh and blood. Pearl isn't an easy child to raise, she was mean to other children and threw rocks at them. Everyone in town thinks Pearl is a devil because of her rude behavior towards townspeople, for example, when Mr. Wilson says " The little baggage hath witchcraft in her, I profess, said he to Mr Dimmesdale. She needs no old woman's broomstick to fly withal!" This is proof of what people in town think of her. Pearl is also torture for Hester because she puts her through the stress and fear of possibly losing what she lives for every day. In the novel, the Puritans thought Pearl wasn't being raised right because of her reckless behavior and threatened to have her taken away. Hester then had to beg and plead to keep her devilish child.
Pearl is symbolic not only Hester's happiness but also her torture and punishment. The letter "A" and Pearl's life is a constant reminder of her affair with Dimmesdale. Pearl brings a sense of pleasure, and the idea of a normal life to Hester because she is unaware of the meaning of the "A" on Hester's chest. Pearl is the center of Hester's life in depression and in bliss.