Nathaniel Hawthorne’s rather gloomy diction and description of Pearl’s comment reminds Hester of the burden she carries and evidently points out the scarlet letter on her bosom. The lack of sunshine at Hester’s touch illustrates a comparison of her actions and the response of nature. The sunshine stays and surrounds Pearl, who is clean and pure of sin, in a “magic circle” and acts as her “playmate” but hides once Hester, who has committed a mortal sin, tries to “catch the sunshine”. The vivid imagery creates an influential contrast between darkness and light, between pureness and sin, and highlights the rather negative attitude of the Puritans through nature and its unlikely occurrences. Contradicting their basic doctrine that Jesus left for
