Demonic Pearl
“Man is the cruelest animal.” –Friedrich Nietzsche Pearl is the daughter of an adulterer thus explaining why her personality is not like any normal child. There are a multiple ways to describe Pearl but, I feel that the word, “evil” is best fitting. The evil of Pearl can be shown through what she has to say about God, her reaction to the children, and the way she treats her mother. Hester had asked Pearl if she was truly her child, in which Pearl replied with a yes. Hester said that she was not her child and that she was sent from thy Heavenly Father. No other child in the Puritan time would say what Pearl had to say about God. Pearl answered, “He did not send me! I have no Heavenly Father!” This shows that Pearl is quite demonic considering the time she lived. If anyone besides Hester had heard what Pearl said, she would have most likely been terribly punished. Some ways Pearl reacted to the children were understandable while others were questionable. Because her mom was isolated from society, so was Pearl. When Pearl and her mother would go into town the children would make fun of her because they knew what Hester had done. Pearl would throw stones and yell back at them to protect herself. At home Pearl always plays games with toys in which she destroys everything. She is compared to a witch in both the way she interacts with other children and the way she plays.
Pearl loves her mother and sometimes treats her with affection and tenderness. However, at other times she taunts Hester and seems to take pleasure in causing her distress. Pearl danced on graves and after doing so she put burrs on Hester’s scarlet letter. This tells me that she knows

of her mother’s sin and wants to let her know that she does. Pearl also gets into this certain mood where nothing Hester does can persuade her to act the correct way. When Hester tried to teach Pearl about religion Pearl would say she had no heavenly father.
Since Pearl is the product of a massive sinner she grew up to be evil. I am afraid that Pearl will stay this way throughout the rest of the novel, but as of now, the negative words she says about God, how she responds to the Puritan kids tormenting, and how she treats her mother shows that she is indeed evil.