Social Anxiety In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

My Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a story, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, about a woman named Hester Prynne who commits an act of adultery with her lover Arthur Dimmesdale against her husband, Roger Chillingworth. Hester Prynne is branded by the letter A, for adultery, to publicly mark her mistake afterwards. If I was to be branded by a letter it would be the letter A. The letter A would stand for anxiety, specifically social anxiety. This hinders me from doing many things such as public speaking, attending social outings, and family gatherings. I am not completely unable to do these things, but it makes it very strenuous and tedious on me emotionally, and sometimes, physically. When I was younger, around the age of nine, I went over to my mother’s boyfriend’s house for Thanksgiving. I was terrified the whole time I was there. My hands were shaking constantly, my arms prickled with goose bumps, and my face was crimson. I thoroughly disliked being introduced to so many people and family members that were within the household, none that I had ever met in my life. I tried hiding out downstairs before dinner began, but this just made the situation worse. While I had tried to escape attention it was only brought forth by the questioning of where I had wondered …show more content…
My shirt collar felt uncomfortably hot along with my cheeks that flushed vividly. On multiple occasions I rubbed the back of my neck to attempt to rub away the growing discomfort that settled within the pit of my gut to no avail. When it was my turn, I grabbed as little food as possible to make a quick escape from the line. I darted over to the table to pick most inconspicuous spot that I could to conceal myself. I ate in small bites, my thighs pushed tightly together with my ankles wrapped around each other. I fiddled with my fingers from beneath the table, silently hoping to go