I wanted to make a comment about a discussion that started in monday's class. We were discussing, or arguing rather, if we thought Hester should have told Pearl the meaning behind the Scarlet Letter. I just wanted to relate it to something personal in my life.
My brother is 2 yrs. older than me, and we grew up in the same household. However, I always felt some distance from him. When I was in 11th grade I found out (accidently) through a family member that my brother was gay. I was so upset when I found this out, not so much because he was gay, but because he never told me. He said he had always knew. After we discussed it and I started spending time with him in social situations, I became really close with him. We are, to this day, very close and although he lives in NY, spend as much time toghether as possible.
My point of this story is that (although I feel Pearl was a little young at 7 to handle the complete story) Hester and Pearl could never really have a real mother/daughter bond with the secret Hester kept. I believe that is Hester would have told Pearl, not only would she know who her father was, they would also become much closer and understanding of each other. The letter was a wall built up between the two and there would be no breaking it until the secret was left out.