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that they will stand together at judgement day (134). This promise is not enough for Pearl.

Pearl can not improve until Mr. Dimmesdale confesses to the entire congregation, which he does on Election Day. His reward is the redemption of his daughter. For when Pearl kissed him, as he lay dying, "a spell was broken. . . . and as her tears fell upon her father's cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor for ever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it" (222). Why does this scene resonate through the soul and touches the heart?

Joseph Campbell explains "that every generation has to die in order that the next generation can come. As soon as you beget or give birth to a child, you are the dead one. The child is the new life, and you are simply the protector of that new life" (137). Accordingly, once Mr. Dimmesdale accepts his offspring and his role as her protector, then Pearl is able to take her place within society.

As in all good myths, Hawthorne finishes with a moral. He writes: "Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred" (224). Nevertheless, the bones of this story run deeper than a trite moral of dubious virtue. This story is of a woman who overcomes her sin, a man who abandons his child, and a child who becomes human.

Even deeper, one sees that man is not just a receptacle for sperm, but also has importance in the full development of a child. Since archetypal structures contain our species knowledge, what is the warning contained in The Scarlet Letter? The warning is children need both a mother and father, who are willing to love, care, and nurture them. Without this first structure in a child's life, he or she will be unable to live a fulfilling life within society.

To cure society's ever-increasing ills, the family unit must be cured. How can we do this? Instead of revering personal triumphs, our society must learn the art of unselfishness by spending more time with our children. After all, the future of any society is its children, and the children are the future of our society.

Works Cited
Campbell, Joseph. The Power of Myth With Bill Moyers. New York: Doubleday, 1988.
de Laszlo, Violet S., ed. The Basic Writings of C. G. Jung. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.

Eliot, Alexander. Timeless Myths: How Ancient Legends Influence the World Around Us. New York: Continuum, 1996.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penquin, 1986.

Leeming, David Adams. Mythology:The Voyage of the Hero. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1973.

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