Even Pearl’s clothes contribute to her symbolic purpose in the novel by making an association between her, the scarlet letter, and Hester’s passion. Much to the consternation of her Puritan society, Hester dresses Pearl in outfits of gold or red or both. Even when she goes to Governor Bellingham’s to plead for her daughter’s custody, Hester dresses Pearl in a crimson velvet tunic. With Pearl’s attire, Hester can give “the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play,” embroidering her clothes “with fantasies and flourishes of gold-thread.” Physical descriptions of Pearl and the scarlet letter are virtually interchangeable.
Mistress Hibbins invites Hester to the forest and Hester says if the governor takes her child away she will gladly go. Their conversation reminds us that, as a symbol, Pearl is also the conscience of a number of people. First, she is the conscience of the community, pointing her finger at Hester. In any number of places, she reminds Hester that she must wear, and continue to wear, the scarlet letter. When they go to the forest and Hester removes the A, Pearl makes her put it back on. She tells her mother that “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Chapter 16).
