James Freeman Clarke once said, "Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience." If a man is brave he will follow his conscience and reveal his inner thoughts to others. In The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Dimmesdale's conscience plays a major role by causing him to have inner guilt throughout the novel. He is reluctant to reveal his identity as the father of Pearl to his Puritan society. Hester Pyrnne, the mother of Pearl, is the only individual who knows he is Pearl's father. Both share deep conversations about their secret affair. Pearl becomes a living device that symbolizes the sin they have committed and causes their guilty consciences to be revealed. Thusly, the invisible child, Pearl, is an ongoing reminder of the secret pain buried deep in the chambers of Dimmesdale's heart.
From the first time we encounter Pearl in the novel, she is merely a three month old infant. Hester is carrying her from the spiky, dull prison door down the long, dirt path toward the public scaffold. As Hester's punishment for committing adultery, she must stand on the scaffold for three hours. During this time, Reverend Wilson instructs Arthur Dimmesdale to question Hester about the identity of her lover. Her response to this is, "I will not speak! And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!" (Hawthorne 21). This begins to affect Dimmesdale's conscience because his adultererous partner has denied to society Pearl will ever know him. The words Hester speaks strike his heart hard because he knows that he should stand on the scaffold beside her and openly admit his sin. However, Pearl recognizes him when, "Even the poor baby, at Hester's bosom, was affected by the same influence, for it directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms, with half pleased, half plaintive murmur." (Hawthorne 20). Pearl reaches up her tiny arms to her father, but yet he does not have the courage to take her up his arms. Arthur Dimmesdale is the preacher at the Puritan society's church. He preaches to his congregation that they are all sinners but there is a God who still wants to love them. That same God wants to pick them up, hold them, and tell them they are a "child of God." Dimmesdale reaches for God, but not his own daughter. Pearl symbolizes a "sinner wanting to be picked up", but with no father who will claim her. Dimmesdale's conscience begins to grow full of guilt because the God of whom he preaches claims him, although he is a sinner, and he cannot declare to society the fact that he has committed adultery.
Not only does Pearl work on Dimmesdale's conscience in the religious aspect, but also when she asks, "Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, tomorrow noontide?" (Hawthorne 104-105). This quotation is taken from the scene when Dimmesdale leaves his home in the middle of the night to go stand on the scaffold. While he is performing a silent vigil, his spiritual torture becomes so overbearing he cries out with a shriek of agony. Hester and Pearl run into Dimmesdale on their journey home from the bed of the dying Governor Winthrop. The two join Dimmesdale on the scaffold, the place where seven long years earlier "Hester Pyrnne had lived through her first hours of public ignominy." (Hawthorne 99). The difference between the first scaffold scene and this one is the absence of the crowd. While on the scaffold, Pearl asks the minister if he will join her and Hester there at noontide tomorrow. Dimmesdale replies that their meeting will be at the great judgement day rather than in the daylight. Dimmesdale's guilty burden becomes heavier because Pearl begins to question whether he will acknowledge Hester and her in public. His two sides, the public Dimmesdale and the private Dimmesdale, become more evident to him. The public Dimmesdale is ashamed of Pearl, while the private Dimmesdale holds her hand and accepts her. Not only does Dimmesdale realize this, but Pearl has caught onto it as well.
Now that Pearl has identified her father, she longs for society to know the truth. Pearl is persistent and continues asking Dimmesdale to accept her in the eyes of society. While by the brookside, Pearl asks her mother in front of Dimmesdale, "Doth he love us? Will he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?" (Hawthorne 167). At his point, Dimmesdale's guilt has overtaken his life. This becomes obvious when, "The minister-painfully embarrassed, but hoping that a kiss might prove a talisman to admit him not the child's kindlier regards-bent forward, and impressed one on her brow." (Hawthorne 167). Pearl has pushed him to the edge where he is forced to decide to either tell society the truth about Pearl or continue to live a lie. If he cannot publicly accept responsibility for his actions, Pearl will continue to make him feel guiltier and deny him. "Hereupon, Pearl broke away from her mother, and, running to the brook, stooped over it and bathed her forehead, until the unwelcome kiss was quite washed off and diffused through a long lapse of the gliding water." (Hawthorne 167). Immediately when kissed by her father, Pearl washes the kiss off in the brook. She does not want to accept a kiss from Dimmesdale unless he will accept her in the public eye.
In the end, Dimmesdale gives an inspiring election day sermon. On the way to the banquet at town hall, the minster can scarcely walk. He comes to the scaffold where Hester stands holding Pearl by the hand. Dimmesdale pauses and calls Hester an Pearl to him. He ascends the scaffold steps with them by his side. The minister tells Hester that he is dying and must acknowledge his shame. Dimmesdale turns to the crowd, tearing his ministerial band from his breast, and declares that he is the father of Pearl. Then he sinks on the scaffold and asks Pearl for a kiss. Pearl kisses him and begins to weep. This is the most memorable scene between Dimmesdale and Pearl because this is the first moment when Dimmesdale is really the true father of Pearl. Society knows the truth and Pearl now can be held by her father with no judgement. After this, Arthur Dimmesdale speaks his last words "Praised be his name! His will be done! Farewell!" (Hawthorne 211) and dies in the arms of Hester.
Pearl plays a significant burden on Dimmesdale's guilty conscience. She symbolizes a child longing for a father who will accept her not only in private, but publicly as well. I believe she is the driving force behind his confession. Through Pearl, Dimmesdale sees what he has done wrong. When he knows he is going to die, he chooses to live his last moments free of the secret that has bound him for many years. Dimmesdale's decision can be applied to our lives because we should not journey through life burdened by secrets. We should admit our faults, problems, and mistakes to others instead of carrying guilt. As people who sin everyday, we should not judge others when they admit their wrongs. We should be willing to help them overcome the battles with which they are struggling. While Pearl intentionally caused Dimmesdale to feel guilty, we should strive to build each other up and reach out to those in need. Imagine if everyone reached out to others, how much better people of the world would feel. The world would become a better place because of a simple word-compassion.
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