Pearls have always been of great value to mankind, but no pearl has ever been won at such great cost to a person as in Hester Prynne, a powerful heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel. The scarlet letter. His daughter Pearl, born in a Puritan prison in more ways than one, is an enigmatic character serving entirely as a vehicle for symbolism. From her introduction as a baby on her mother's scaffold of shame to the story's stormy climax, Pearl is an empathetic and intelligent child. Throughout the story, she absorbs her mother's hidden emotions and magnifies them for all to see. The pearl is the essence of literary symbolism. She is, at times, a means for Hawthorne to express the incoherent and translucent qualities of Hester and Dimmesdale's illegal bond, and at other times, a powerful reminder of his mother's sin. Pearl Prynne is her mother's most prized possession and her only reason for living, but Pearl also serves as a priceless treasure purchased with Hester's life. Pearl's strange beauty and deeply enigmatic qualities make her the most powerful symbol Hawthorne ever created. The product of Hester's sin and agony, Pearl, was a painful and constant reminder of her mother's violation of the seventh commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Hester herself felt that Pearl was given to her not only as a blessing but also as a punishment worse than death or ignominy. She is tormented by her daughter's childish teasing and endless questions about the Scarlet Letter and her relationship with Minister Dimmesdale. After Pearl creates a letter "A" on her breast with seaweed, she asks her mother: But seriously, now, dear mother, what does this scarlet letter mean? -- and why do you carry it on your breast? -- and why does the minister keep his hand on his heart? By saying this, Pearl implies that she knows much more about the Scarlet Letter than she lets on. Throughout the conversation, Pearl is playful and teasing, saying one thing and contradicting it soon after. She refuses to say exactly what she thinks, making it difficult for Hester to give a straight answer. Hester is shocked that her cheerful daughter has led their conversation to the subject of the Scarlet Letter, and even more troubled that she has assumed that Hester's letter and Dimmesdale's habit of pressing his hand to her heart are a branch of the same problem..