Scarlet Letter Symbolism Essay

Words: 1512
Pages: 7

Since the beginning of time, naming your child has been a delicacy in the human culture. Parent’s usually don’t just name their child some random name they come up in the car on the way to the hospital. Sometimes, name choosing can go on for months before they come down to the top names! From a renewal of a family name to a Greek meaning of the word, the names are usually special to the family. Symbolism can be an important feature when writing a novel or any story. A short reference to an object or image provide substantial meaning to a character. During the Romantic period of American literature, the main focus of symbolism was based on nature. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne creates the characters names based on the trait the …show more content…
Pearl, the only daughter of Hester, came into this world through a terrible sin. She was overlooked in the community as just some child that God didn’t mean to been created. But, Pearl has a very important role in the novel as a remembrance of their sin. When the government said that they would have to take Pearl away from Hester because it was a product of a sin, she explained that it would remind her of the wrongdoing. Also she would be able to teach Pearl all of her wrongdoings, so Pearl wouldn’t commit them after following her mother. Her actual name also has a special meaning to her lifestyle from the novel. A “pearl” is a natural substance that has a very special and high value. This has a twofold meaning with the novel. The first meaning of the the “pearl” is that it is usually associated with jewelry. Pearl, the character, is very dear Hester, and Hester wants to give her the best life she can. The other part is that a “pearl” is a natural substance. Even though she came into the world in a disgraceful way, she should still be treated as a human being. Pearl may came from something bad in the Puritan culture, but not everything bad has have a negative effect on life. Hester is able to show this through