Liberation from sin by the Pearl in the Scarlet Letter “This child... came from the hand of God, to act in many ways on her heart... It was meant for a blessing, the only blessing in his life! It was undoubtedly intended... for punishment too; a torture felt at many unexpected moments; a pinch, like a sting, an ever recurring agony, in the middle of a troubled joy! Elf child born from his and Hester Prynne's guilty passion. Like the thorn in Paul's flesh, Pearl would bring trouble, sorrow, and frustration to Hester, but would serve a constructive purpose far beyond the everyday provocations of her childish playfulness, in many ways. Hester's tormentor, Pearl was also her savior, while a reminder of her guilt, a promoter of honesty and true virtue and, while embodying Hester's worst qualities, a vision of a better life for Hester and for herself. beginning of The Scarlet Letter, while Hester is ashamed of having a baby as tangible proof of her sin and shame, the responsibility of caring for Pearl and raising her with love and wisdom serves to calm the provocative passion and destructive of Hester's nature and to save her from her wild and desperate incitements. This feeling is poignantly depicted in Hester's visit to the governor's mansion. There, she begs the governor, magistrates, and ministers to allow her to keep Pearl, exclaiming, “She is my happiness!” It is no less my torture! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! Don't you see, she is the scarlet letter, only... in the middle of a paper... uh to conquer the passion, once so wild, which had brought her to ruin and shame. ” (Hawthorne, 165) It was Hester’s maternal feelings of nurturing and loving her child that saved her from temptation and death and opened her heart to the poor and needy around her. It was her child's tortuous fixation on her shame that tempered and refined her character and led her toward the precious virtue of being true to herself and others. And it is a reflection of her own. character, even at its worst, in her child who brought Hester to a better understanding of herself and the desire to build a better life for Pearl was more than her mother's tormentor: she was her blessing, her. life and the freedom to live a life true to herself and her God Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel The Scarlet Letter Books., 1989.