Hester Prynne Prejudice Quotes

In The Scarlet Letter,by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, an adulterer, is confronted by her husband, Roger Chillingworth, while she is in prison. While Mr. Chillingworth is there he tells Hester that because of the A on her chest she will always be "a living sermon against sin" , a constant reminder of what not to do, and a warning of the consequences of sin. However Roger is mistaken in that belief because while Hester Prynne did face extreme prejudice for a substantial amount of time following her sentencing, as the years pass that hatred starts to dwindle. The reason for this dwindling is twofold, part of it being as time goes by seeing Hester with her red A on became a common sight and with nothing to kindle their fury they slowly became more accepting of Hester, since “ to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates” (110). The other part is that Hester starts to win their respect since she shows the town kindness and is always shown to be willing to help those in need. The Puritans’ anger fades and Hester …show more content…
Chillingworth is right but that 's simply not the case. The town’s early disgust with Hester does mean that Roger was initially correct but he doesn’t stay right, by the end of the book the people love her for her charitable behaviour, it even says “Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne” (111). Hester’s isolation is not a reflection of people forcing her away as she ignores those who try to talk to her or extend their friendship, Hester separates herself from society by choice because she feels ashamed of what she has done. This shame keeps her an outcast but people don’t see her as a sinful person, not after all she’s done for