Hester Prynne was an adulterous woman who should not have been allowed to hold onto the custody of a child. She clearly was not the right person to raise Pearl and this is obvious in the way that Pearl acts. Pearl is a child unlike anything other in the city of Salem - she is undoubtedly crazy. Pearl was thought to be a demon by her unusual and scary activity. She did not understand common social behavior and this is because of her separation from society, which was imposed on her mother. Although there is a good argument as to why Pearl should not have been taken care of by a person who committed adultery it could be argued that Hester needed to have Pearl. If Hester did not have Pearl around Hester would not be confronted by her crime daily and see what she did. .
Also it is important to note who the separation from society was supposed to punish. Hester was the sinner and she committed the crime therefore why was it right to punish the daughter? It was not and that is clear. It is not fair that Pearl was treated unfairly and looked down upon. Even though her mother had sinned Pearl had not committed anything that would be deemed unacceptable. Pearl was just a child and was not the one that was accused of adultery. .
Pearl should have been taken from Hester so that she would be raised up in an environment that would teach her not to be like her mother. In fact if Pearl had been separated before she could have remembered what Hester had done that might have been the best. Also it should be considered if Hester would be able to take care of a child in her state. A single mom that is an outcast of a community will not be able to raise a child effectively. It is already difficult for a mom to take care of a daughter or son all on their own. But when the mother is along and shunned by a city the challenges that a mom would face would be immense. It is obviously hard enough to take care of a child between two parents so imagine the difficulty Hester had raising Pearl.