Started From the Bottom Now We Here: The Story of Hester Prynne
After reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter,” I have come to the conclusion that Hester Prynne had the most positive moral development of the characters in the book. In the Scarlet Letter, a Hester Prynne is sent overseas to the new colonies by her husband. However, she traveled there alone, which led to her adultery sentence, which is why she is required by law to wear the scarlet letter A for the rest of her life. Hester started out the novel as an adulteress who was shunned by the entirety of the Puritan Society, and by the end of the story had transformed into a symbol of strength for the women of the society. In the beginning of Hawthorne’s novel, we found out that Hester was convicted of adultery, and thus sentenced to wear a scarlet A (standing for adultery), three months in prison, and three hours standing on a scaffold in front of the entire town. At this point in the novel, Hester was ashamed of her letter. While the rest of …show more content…
She began to learn to accept that she had to wear the letter. She started working extremely hard, and was selfless and kind. She was figuring out how to live with the consequences of her mistakes, and also to make the best of her situation. “Such helpfulness was found in her, —so much power to do, and power to sympathize, —that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne… (pg 168).” By the end of the novel, Hester had come to terms with her sentence. She wore her scarlet letter with pride, and loved her Pearl deeply and sincerely. In the last few chapters, she even shed her letter like a burden, only to take it back to show Pearl that she was, in fact, her mother. Hester no longer saw her letter as a symbol of sin, but as more of an identifier of who she was and what she had been
After reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter,” I have come to the conclusion that Hester Prynne had the most positive moral development of the characters in the book. In the Scarlet Letter, a Hester Prynne is sent overseas to the new colonies by her husband. However, she traveled there alone, which led to her adultery sentence, which is why she is required by law to wear the scarlet letter A for the rest of her life. Hester started out the novel as an adulteress who was shunned by the entirety of the Puritan Society, and by the end of the story had transformed into a symbol of strength for the women of the society. In the beginning of Hawthorne’s novel, we found out that Hester was convicted of adultery, and thus sentenced to wear a scarlet A (standing for adultery), three months in prison, and three hours standing on a scaffold in front of the entire town. At this point in the novel, Hester was ashamed of her letter. While the rest of …show more content…
She began to learn to accept that she had to wear the letter. She started working extremely hard, and was selfless and kind. She was figuring out how to live with the consequences of her mistakes, and also to make the best of her situation. “Such helpfulness was found in her, —so much power to do, and power to sympathize, —that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne… (pg 168).” By the end of the novel, Hester had come to terms with her sentence. She wore her scarlet letter with pride, and loved her Pearl deeply and sincerely. In the last few chapters, she even shed her letter like a burden, only to take it back to show Pearl that she was, in fact, her mother. Hester no longer saw her letter as a symbol of sin, but as more of an identifier of who she was and what she had been