In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl serves as the “apple of Eden”. She is plucked from the hands of God in heaven and sent to the mortal world as a baby “to make out its [the scarlet letter’s] hidden import” (155), causing Prynne and Dimmesdale to face their consequences. Pearl functions in the story on three levels: as a real child, as a continuing symbol of Prynne and Dimmesdale’s adultery, and as an allegorical figure sent to torment the sinners and direct their actions. Only Dimmesdale ca ....