The Struggle Of Hester Prynne And Arnold Spirit

Hester Prynne and Arnold Spirit are two characters who don’t have much in common besides the fact that despite all issues and conflicts, they tried to fit into society. These two have tried to conform to social norms, yet at the same tried to escape society and rise above their struggles and the hatred they received from others. For Hester Prynne, each and every day she struggled to deal with ignominy and the townspeople constantly looking down at her because of her past. Arnold Spirit on the other hand had to struggle with his appearance, being bullied on the rez, feeling like he didn’t belong, and his identity. While both Hester and Arnold respectively had their share of struggle one’s individuality does not outweigh the other’s.

Each and …show more content…
This was one of his constant struggle and the main reason he was bullied on the rez. He was bullied because he looked physically different from the other kids. In chapter five it says, “ You fought off that brain surgery. You fought off those seizures. You fought off all the drunks and drug addicts. You kept your hope. And now, you have to take your hope and go somewhere where other people have hope.” This life was and even after this point is just full of hardships and struggles. He also faced an identity crisis when he left to go to school in Reardan trying to make something out of his life. People around him constantly made him feel like he didn’t belong. As if he was not too American enough or not too Indian enough to belong in either places. He was bullied even more after he decided to go to school in Reardan, he was treated as if he committed treason. Pretty much everyone but his family members excluding his best friend hated what he choose to do. Another constant obstacle Junior faced on a daily basis was finding transportation to Reardan and back home. There were days that he had to miss school because of this, he had no money to get himself a ride either. Another struggle Junior had to deal with was his identity, who he was, his heritage, peer acceptance. These things all played a hand in him finding and forming his identity. In chapter …show more content…
Who had their fair share of struggle, and feeling like they didn’t belong. For sometime both these characters tried to conform to social norms but that didn’t last for too long. These two were depicted as very strong well developed characters who displayed immense amount of strength as time went on. They happened to rise above their struggles and hatred from people around them and escaped society and its social norms. In the end these two unique characters formed their identity and individuality although one’s does not outweigh the other. As both Hester and Prynne did not go through the same things, but nevertheless their past made them who they are and didn’t let their past define