Daniels, Cindy Lou. “Hawthorne’s pearl: woman-child of the future”. The    AmericanTranscendental Quarterly. (2005)  Pearl in the novel was a living reminder of Hester’s adultery with the reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.  Though Hester did not divulge the identity of Pearl’s father until the late part of the story where in Dimmesdale can not keep the guilt to his heart alone. She symbolizes the outcast’s children of the present generation, a child that was born out of marriage, which rejects the Puritan community to be able to live a life aside from being a daughter born out of her mother’s sin(Daniels).

Kelly, M. “Characterization in the Scarlet Letter”. Yale Journal of Criticism. 10.1(1997): 193-213. Redemption and guilt is the theme of “The Scarlet Letter”. The book is more than the Hester Prynne who committed adultery and suffered the punishment for her sin, or Arthur Dimmesdale’s anguish for his sins, or Roger Chillingworth’s plot for revenge. It tackles omnipresent issues of the society like adultery, breaking the social norm and rules, the hypocrisy of the interdependence of the state and the church even though they have separate governing power, and the society’s judgmental populace. Just like today many Hester’s are present in our generation that battles the consequences of their mistakes due to the society’s judgmental nature(Kelly).

Korobkin, LH “Scarlet Letter of the law: Hawthorne and Criminal Justice”. The Novel: Forum of Fiction. Winter (1997). The law of the Puritan society is only in hands of a few that implements their decision to the whole nation. There were no juries mentioned in the novel, the judicial system present today that gives the accused a time to answer the accusations is totally absent in that era. Even private behaviors about relationships that‘s a personal choice is a matter that also rely on the decisions of these magistrates. They are rigid and inconsiderate when they gave the verdict for Hester to wear the scarlet letter A.