How Is Hester Alienated In The Scarlet Letter Shunned

Improved Essays
The Scarlet Letter Final Essay The Scarlet Letter is a book written by Nathanial Hawthorne about a woman who commits

Adultery. Although Hester is shunned for sinning, Hester is also alienated after committing

Adultery because the town’s people’s morals are wrong, Hester’s morals are wrong and she is shunned

For committing this sin. Hester’s thoughts and actions cause the people of the town to dislike and

Alienate her. Her morals are viewed as wrong to the community.

Hester is alienated after committing adultery because the town people’s morals are

Wrong, for shunning someone for committing a sin. After committing adultery with

Dimmesdale the town forces her to go to prison and stand on the scaffolding for the whole town

to see and mock
…show more content…
Hester’s actions cause people to force her away because of her

sin, yet no one seems to realize that every one of them has sinned. Hester was well respected

and now should be outwardly shunned for committing this sin.

But if you ask yourself aren’t the townspeople’s morals and thoughts in the wrong area?

The towns’ people are the ones shunning Hester for sinning. Forcing someone away that

obviously needs help, so aren’t the townspeople alienating themselves from someone who has

her thoughts and morals in the right place? If someone is in need of help don’t leave and alienate

them because they are in need. The townspeople seem to forget that

everyone sins, some are bigger than others some are less severe but we all sin.

Hester should not be shunned for sinning yet the people of the town do. Hester is sent to

Jail and publically humiliated because of a sin. The townspeople are the ones who should be

punished for their brutality and their ignorance. Hester’s thoughts and actions are in the wrong

place according to the people yet the peoples thoughts and actions are wrong according to

Hester. Even though Hester is shunned and alienated she stays humble and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    When Hester Pyrnne’s reputation is buried beneath a wine-colored blemish, it doesn’t alter who she is. Hester Pyrnne is a woman of immense strength of character and defiance for convention. Because of this, she refuses to crumble and lose all sight of her dreams. Like many new mothers, she simply replaces them, hanging new ones in their place. Hester once wished for what many Puritan women did-- to float over to the New World with the nice older man she was saddled with and live a quiet, simple life.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book the scarlet letter the main characters are considered forgiven by god and by the people of the town. Hester and Dimmesdale have sinned but they would have to make up for it to be forgiven. Hester and pearl had a rough beginning to the story but managed to get through it. At the beginning of the story Dimmsdale Which is the father of pearl and the priest in the story. We don't find out until later that he is the father of pearl who sinned with Hester.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hester will have to live the rest of her life with the feeling of guilt and shame because of the symbol forever resting upon her bosom. This community wants to use her as an example or a reminder of what happens when one deviates from the rigid social structure or commits a sin. The Puritans feel threatened by Hester’s sin because they are afraid that others might follow her example, possibly changing the very foundation of their religious beliefs and daily life. The Puritans feel as though Hester’ sin will not only affect her, but will also affect their way of life because they are so dependent on religion.…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This shows how the town is unsupportive of her actions, as they are unable to see her virtuous intent. Hester decides to not leave the town, and maintain her individuality while in the grasp of a judgemental society. A famous Biblical verse states “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (The New King James Version, Matthew 7:2)…

    • 2021 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hester has committed a crime that is punishable by death her punishments so far have been jail, the letter "A" on her breast, and possibly her child pearl (the product of her crime) being taken away. Some people might agree or disagree that these punishments are enough or not. Hester's punishment is enough because she feels bad about the crime she has committed, everyone is paying attention to her and pointing fingers. She is also at risk of losing her child.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By living on the border of Puritan society and nature, Hester shows she can not live within the constraints of Puritan society. She lives on the border and not in the forest, an “unredeemed, unchristianised, lawless” area, and Hester continues holding on to Dimmesdale and her role in society as “a living sermon against sin” (302, 95). By living on the border, between sin and morality, Hester 's desire to abandon her sin for a new beginning grows and her chains of longing for her fellow adulterer prevent her from making the jump. This forces Hester to instead face her sin and accept it as part of herself. In doing so, Hester developed a sense of goodness that only arises from soaking one 's self in sin, so as to know the perspective of both sinners and 'do-gooders. '…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A new life If you were rejected in your own community, if your old friends now shunned you, if you were ashamed to walk down the street, would you stay, and let yourself and your child live a life of shame and scorn? Everyone agrees that this is the life Hester Prynne was forced to lead. Some say that Hester should have stayed in the community, while others say the opposite. Hester should have left the community for these three reasons.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novels, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, both share stories of two people who committed a sin of adultery that both induced a horrible end of their lives. Society has always viewed the sin of adultery as a crime against God and punishable by death , although adultery cannot be punishable by death now, it is still a leading cause in divorces. Sin is a matter of importance in the 17th century puritan community. The result of Hester not having a husband present causes her to commit the act of adultery and later publicly shamed. In the novel Hester states, “I will not speak!, and my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!”(Hawthorne 64).…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The effects of guilt can be seen at the beginning of the story in regards to the way that individuals in the colony perceive inappropriate actions. By first setting the stage by providing a context in which adultery is viewed as an extremely odious offense, Hawthorne creates an apt world which sets the stage for the rest of the story. As Puritan ideals that emphasize the need to remain accepted in society according to a strict set of values exist, so does the greater potential to be judged harshly for failing to meet these standards. Sin, in regards to exposed social impropriety, can most obviously be seen in the sentencing of the main character, Hester.…

    • 1754 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Madison Fishman English 11H The Scarlet Letter- Analytical Essay: Women It would be impossible for someone in this day and age to imagine a world without women's influence. Women have and will continue, to make a world on the world, as they believe their voices must be heard. However, this belief was once looked down upon, especially in the Puritan town of Boston during the mid-1600’s.…

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although she faces many difficulties, she refuses to lose sight of who she is. She maintains her dignity and sustains her strength throughout the course of the novel. Hester does not follow the preconceived ideas on how one should behave in the Puritanical society. By following her sexual desires with Dimmesdale, she goes against the societal norms, and by doing so, goes against the bible. The biblical beliefs of others do not hold Hester back from her desires and physically represent the significance of her individuality.…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While the scarlet letter may not be able to be seen as completely good or evil, the letter has changed much in Hester;s and the towns people’s lives. Hester is able to acknowledge the good that this punishment she has had to endure has brought while accepting the hardships as well. Within the confides of this society where ay type of sin, especially when made public is profusely frowned upon by the colonists, can only be seen as bad, the symbolism of the letter is also able to show the true beauty in the…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the protagonists are accused of unspeakable crimes in Puritan New England ruining their reputations. Although the reason for punishment may differ, the protagonists, John Proctor and Hester Prynne, lost something in common: their reputation. Their acceptance of their punishment shows the importance of their reputation, the corruption of their communities, and the fear of judgment by their peers. The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, both set in the 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony, follow the lives of the protagonists John Proctor in The Crucible and Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. The mentalities of both the communities as well as the religious values…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is a constant theme of risks made by each of the main characters that are familiarized as Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. While the reason for these risks that are being taken place can be because of a simple lust between the two main characters, Hester and Dimmesdale, or even a mind dissolving retribution by the dynamic character known as Chillingworth. The certain risk that Hester took in the forest when she prearranged the meeting with Dimmesdale is the possibility that another townsmen could have seen her with him; as this would have been one of the biggest risks that Hester had taken for Pearl’s father in this book. Hester is a character that had experienced a large amount of justified insults and seclusion due to the sin that had been made public from the birth of her…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, sin and repentance are recurring topics, depicted in the novel’s three main characters. Each can be accused of immorality, and each suffers differently as a result of their offenses, however, only one individual clearly repents of his sins. Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the theme of sin and repentance is apparent in the characters of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays