Imagine being forced to wear a symbol that stands for a sin or vile doing due to one mistake and constantly being judged for it. That is what happened to Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. She committed adultery, a major sin amongst her community, and was punished for it. However, Hester’s sin of adultery is dealt with abnormally in terms of today’s society with the harsh punishment, the way society rejects her, and how her sin is reflected upon not only herself but her family. As punishment Hester was forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her chest, that stood for adultery, for the rest of her life. However harsh this punishment may seem there were even crueler ones, such as “At the very least, they should have put the
…show more content…
Her daughter, Pearl, is constantly being picked on by the other children, “ Behold, verily, there is the women of the scarlet letter; and, of a truth, moreover, there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side! Come, therefore, and let us fling mud at them” (Hawthorne 88). The worse part being they learned it from their parents. The parents of these children and the adults of the community often refer to Pearl as a devil child “She remembered-betwixt a smile and a shudder-the talk of the neighbouring townspeople; who, seeking vainly elsewhere for the child's paternity, and observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that little Pearl was a demon offspring; such as, ever since old Catholic times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their mother’s sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose”(Hawthorne 85). Therefore, no one wants to be around Pearl due to the close association with Hester. Thus making her outcasted alongside her mother. In current times, society would not call a young innocent adolescent a devil child based on her mother’s actions. The child might be compared to her mother but, she has a bunch more opportunity to become her own individual and prove herself than Pearl
Her daughter, Pearl, is constantly being picked on by the other children, “ Behold, verily, there is the women of the scarlet letter; and, of a truth, moreover, there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side! Come, therefore, and let us fling mud at them” (Hawthorne 88). The worse part being they learned it from their parents. The parents of these children and the adults of the community often refer to Pearl as a devil child “She remembered-betwixt a smile and a shudder-the talk of the neighbouring townspeople; who, seeking vainly elsewhere for the child's paternity, and observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that little Pearl was a demon offspring; such as, ever since old Catholic times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their mother’s sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose”(Hawthorne 85). Therefore, no one wants to be around Pearl due to the close association with Hester. Thus making her outcasted alongside her mother. In current times, society would not call a young innocent adolescent a devil child based on her mother’s actions. The child might be compared to her mother but, she has a bunch more opportunity to become her own individual and prove herself than Pearl