Personal deixis, as one of the focal points in linguistics, expresses the connection between the speakerand diverse contextual parameters in speech events. It is an indispensable element in people’s communication.Based on the perspectives of pragmatic empathy and de-empathy, this study delves into the pragmatic effectsof personal deixis in specific choices through an incisive analysis of personal deixis within “The Scarlet Letter”.The study reveals that the selection and skillful transformation of personal deixis largely assist the speakers inachieving effects of empathy and de-empathy, thereby fulfilling their pragmatic purposes in different contextualconditions. The research on personal deixis not only highlights the artistic implications of language use in literaryworks but also provides insights into how to judiciously apply personal deixis in real-world contexts.