Cover Of Hester Prynne In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Like all other humans, Hester Prynne has fallen to the reach of the inevitable sin through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. The Hempfield alumni realized that not every book is the same, whether it be from seeing multiple types at Barnes and Nobles or just from seeing the differences in the covers of their friends’ books. Also, after reading The Scarlet Letter students were told to look upon the five varying covers and choose three to show how these drawings depict events, ideas, conflicts, and whatever else they found necessary that would relate these pictures to the plot. So, one can clearly see the connections between the tale of Hester Prynne and the cover options one, three, and four.
First, option number one is a prime …show more content…
Originally one sees the most common aspect of these covers which is the “A”. This symbol continues to convey an idea of distrust and dislike, for the letter stands for adultery. These ideas are associated with Hester because as punishment for her wrongdoing she is told to wear it at all times. Yet, at the end of the story she is able to regain the trust and companionship of the townspeople. Second, are the crosses found on top of what looks to be multiple buildings within the town. These decorations represent the puritan society that Hester lives in and continues to punish her for her sin. Puritans are people who believe that the Church of England must be purified of its roots in Catholicism. So they live a pure life with no sins and punish those that do sin. This is why Hester is forced to wear the “A” and live with this harsh punishment. Along with these two ideas there is one still present within the cover and that is Hester, found in between the buildings with crosses and the large “A”. This is interpreted as a wedge. Hester is stuck in between the two intertwining yet contradicting ideas. She lives in a puritan society where all sins must be punished therefore when she commits this certain sin of adultery she is forced to suffer the consequences. This acts as a conflict throughout the entire story, for she is constantly fighting to be recognized as a decent human being but is almost always denied access to the local interactions because everyone can clearly see or know of her sin and they think of her as a bad person with unwanted qualities because of it. Therefore, these are the ways in which one can see the connections between cover option number four and the story