Many parents would tell you that their children's success is their utmost priority in life. This was the case even in early America, where parents came to the New World in hopes that they could enhance the legacy of their children. In the Puritan society of Boston, parents felt a deep responsibility in raising their children. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne's only true link to reality has become her daughter, Pearl. Pearl is not just any innocent child, though. Pearl was born from a father who was not the husband of her mother. Hester was punished and publicly humiliated for having committed the shameful crime of adultery. Her primary punishment? She had to wear the Scarlet Letter A. Having lived through this difficult lifestyle, Pearl began to act very strangely. She threw many tantrums that suddenly became the talk of the town which resulted in her having no peers she could call friends. Pearl is significant in the story of Hester Prynne because she acts just as if she is a living Scarlet Letter. The reality of having to raise her own Scarlet Letter was a more harsh punishment than the placement of any letter, because the blessing of having a daughter who she loves is overshadowed by the constant scorn for the crime of adultery which she committed. Throughout the story, Hester referred to Pearl as the letter itself. She cannot escape the power behind Pearl's mere existence. Hester's love for Pearl is evident in the way she is tormented for giving her child this extreme burden to bare, through no fault of her own. Pearl's life is a constant reminder of the crime that Hester Prynne committed. Not even Hester could have imagined the burden of putting her child in the position of facing life as the very representative of her mother's crime. Hester's constant reminder of her crime makes her think of herself just as the townspeople do in a bizarre way. Throughout the novel, as Pearl's character basically transforms, she