In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her clothing in order to broadcast to the community that she has sinned. Throughout the novel the letter’s meaning begins to change. While it originally stood for “Adulterer”, it has begun to stand for “Able” instead, due to Hester’s acceptance of her sin and talent in embroidery. In the beginning of the novel after Hester is convicted and forced to wear the “A”, she is entirely shunned and scorned by the community. Even the less fortunate citizens for whom she makes clothes as charity work only accept her help with a snide comment or caustic taunt. Due to the Puritan ideal of predestination, it was not believed that she could simply pray to God
