Conflict in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Human nature, while extraordinarily complex, also has various poor qualities. Often these imperfections give rise to conflicts that are in turn represented in literary works. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, set in an ancient Puritan community, centers on several conflicts of human nature that arise from Hester Prynne's adultery and punishment. There are three main conflicts each for which Hawthorne created a specific main character to illustrate: Pearl, Hester's illegitimate daughter, depicts the conflict between purity and sin, Roger Chillingworth, Hester's ex-husband, depicts good versus evil, and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who sinned with Hester, depicts the conflict between love and hate. Each of these characters has distinct qualities and actions that Hawthorne uses to establish and elaborate the conflicts of human nature in The Scarlet Letter. Pearl, while an extremely pure child at heart, was born as a result of Hester's impure and sinful act of adultery. Therefore, Hawthorne uses Pearl to represent the conflict between sin and purity. The pearl, on the one hand, is the image of innocence and purity. It's almost part of nature, playing and finding company in the wild things of the woods. He also provides the only joy for Hester, as they live in isolation. Highly perceptive, perhaps more so than her mother and other adults, Pearl asks innocent questions about the world around her, worrying most about the scarlet letter on her mother and father's breasts. Pearl, although very innocent and pure of heart, is also a living reminder of Hester's adultery and sin.