No matter what society may do, crime will, most likely, always persevere.  After all, for every just and fair man, there is a foul and cruel man.  Inevitable?  Yes.  But that does not mean society can condone these transgressions.  In the words of Leonardo da Vinci, “He who does not punish evil commands it to be done.”  Only by providing consequences for wrongdoings can society suppress the dark half of the human heart and create a safer world.  However, there are differences in the degree in which a punishment is effective for a crime.  In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne creates a society based on the Puritan towns of the late 18th century in which a woman, Hester Prynne is publicly ostracized because she is an adulterer.  From this lecherous behavior a child, Pearl, is born.  Although only a child, Pearl is a constant burden to Hester, an ever present reminder of the shame Hester received as a result of her actions.  In essence, Pearl is the very embodiment of Hester’s sin.  It is therefore logical, then, that Pearl makes it that much harder for Hester to transcend her ignominy and join others as a normal part of society.
	From the start of the novel, Pearl is critical in the character development of Hester Prynne.  When introducing Hester, Hawthorne writes, “…she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbors.”  Hester uses Pearl to hide her badge of shame that is the scarlet letter A embroidered on her bosom that alienates her from the rest of the townspeople and moving Pearl away from her chest, Hester thereby labels her daughter as an equal badge of shame.  An interesting aspect is the fact that the scarlet letter isn’t drab like one would expect.  After all, if a woman is forced to wear a symbol of her shame upon her chest, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to have a plain, ordinary letter A?  Instead, Hester chooses to decorate the letter, so much so that the other community members remark, or so Hawthorne writes, “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A.”  Among the many possible reasons behind this decoration is the possibility that Hester wants to prove that the scarlet letter does not make her any less of a human.  A more pragmatic reason could simply be that she wants to display her needlework.  After all, Hester does set up a business doing needlework for the town, even if she isn’t allowed to make clothes for weddings.
Rabindranath Tagore, a philosopher among many other things, perhaps said it best when he said, “Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.”  In the case of Hester Prynne, this quote is rather ambivalent.  On one hand, Pearl seems almost omniscient, capable of perceiving the smallest of details to form an idea.  In this respect, Pearl reflects a guiding light for Hester.  On the other hand, Pearl’s omniscient characteristic can be detrimental to Hester, often leaving her in the dark or forcing Hester to go back to the dark.  Upon sighting Roger Chillingworth and Reverent Mr. Dimmesdale watching her and her mother from a window, Pearl cries out, “Come away, mother!  Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you!  He hath got hold of the minister already.”  In these three sentences, Pearl demonstrates an uncanny ability to assess a situation instinctively and come to a conclusion.  From what she has observed of her surroundings, Pearl has realized that the supposed physician, Chillingworth, who seems to have a malevolence around him, has “captured” the Reverend.  Although not physically captured, the Reverend is susceptible to the administrations of the corrupted doctor.  Furthermore, Pearl is free from the restrictions of her society and speaks her mind, calling Chillingworth the “Black Man” and warning her mother to come away.  Thus, as a “messenger” from God, Pearl warns Hester of the danger she sees in the reverend and his physician.
Conversely, Pearl also brings uncomfortable news.  As Hester braces herself to tell Dimmesdale the truth about Chillingworth in the forest, Pearl remarks “Mother, the sunshine does not love you.  It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom.”  In these seemingly innocent lines, Pearl acts as the voice of Hawthorne that wants to share an idea central to his novel.  The sunlight serves as a possible representation of many things.  Chief among the possibilities is the conception that the sunlight represents favor.  Whether this favor is public favor of Hester or God’s own approval can be left to the reader’s own interpretation, but it is clear that the sunlight has a positive connotation, at least, on the surface.  Hester’s own resolution grows, causing her to casts off the scarlet letter of shame as Hawthorne narrates, “…she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves…  But there lay the embroidered letter, glittering like a lost jewel, which some ill-fated wanderer might pick up and henceforth be haunted by strange phantoms of guilt, sinkings of the heart, and unaccountable misfortune.”  Hawthorne’s clearly derogatory attitude toward the scarlet letter hints at the idea that the scarlet letter is the source of misery rather than the sin itself.  Elbert Hubbard stated that “Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.”  In a sense, Hester is punished by her sin, or rather, the physical manifestation of her sin: the scarlet letter.  As soon as the letter leaves Hester’s bosom, a miraculous burst of light comes forth.  As Hawthorne writes, “All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the grey trunks of the solemn trees.”  It is clear that in this instance Hawthorne, in a clear parallel to transcendental ideas, equates sunlight to approval.  The sunlight not only shines, but pours down, as if a bucket long held finally gives way, on Hester only after she has cast of the “stigma” that was the scarlet letter.  Although Hester has seemingly forgiven herself, as has Reverend Dimmesdale, it is clear that the community hasn’t.  Another parallel to transcendentalism, the truth only comes out in the forest, the symbol of nature, while the town that is supposedly “civilized” is nothing more than a façade and web of lies.  Pearl, unfortunately, once again burdens Hester.  Although Hawthorne explains that Pearl’s behavior is only due to the nature of children that allows them to spot whenever something is awry and be wary of the situation, the reader is left with the strong feeling that Pearl is once again Hawthorne’s secret voice that reminds Hester than even if she has risen above her shame and sin, the townsfolk have not.  The second scarlet letter is revealed only at the close of the book, but it has a very profound significance.  After his Election Day sermon, Dimmesdale proclaims, “‘He bids you look again at Hester’s scarlet letter!  He tells you, that, with all its mysterious horror, it is but the shadow of what he bears on his own breast, and that even this, his own red stigma, is no more than the type of what has seared his inmost heart!’...With a convulsive motion, he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast.  It was revealed!”  The scarlet letter, the mark of shame, has, all this time, existed on the chest of Reverend Dimmesdale.  However, there is a conspicuous difference in that Hester bore her letter on her breast while Dimmesdale had his covered up by clothing.  In the end, the reader is left with the impression that the scarlet letter in a way, expedited the death of Dimmesdale.
The whole situation boils down to a simple point.  Does a mark hidden away behind clothes reflect more shame than one worn openly?  It is a question for the ages.  A hidden mark eats away at the bearer’s conscience and soul, a corrosive poison that blackens a heart.  On the other hand, an open mark attracts the cruelty and rejection of the peers.  Perhaps punishment is best when it comes from within.  After all, isn’t a jail really only effective when its inhabitants have time to reflect.  Introspection is really one of the only true methods of salvation.  Richard Wright so eloquently said, “Men simply copied the realities of their hearts when they built prisons.”  Perhaps it is true.  A cell is truly only a physical representation of the deep, dark cells of the human heart, where remorse, guilt, and pride are all engaged in a never ending battle for the top bunk.