Character Development In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

The development of a person can occur at any time throughout their life. Sometimes it happens early on during childhood, and sometimes it happens during later adulthood. A powerful and popular type of development is personality development. This type of development is extremely complex and can sometimes be difficult to interpret. A clear-cut example of personality development was during the novel, “The Scarlet Letter,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the common townspeople’s’ perception of main character, Hester Prynne, evolve in tandem to her perception of them and makes Hester’s feelings evident in the eyes of the reader. Additionally, this evolution happens in three intricate steps. Near half-through the novel, the town’s perception of Hester is quite strident. This was during a time when Hester was surely heart-broken and upset to see that everyone “with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished.” It also most likely made her feel alone because she was “as much …show more content…
However, to begin this process, the starting point has to be the opposite of the outcome. In the case of Hester, her cycle starts off extremely negative, with everyone disrespecting her. Then, as the story progresses, the people’s perception of Hester slowly changes year after year. But then by the end, the two adjectives that describe her the best are able and helpful. The idea of a cycle originally meant that at some point, they would end up being the same way they once were. Hester manages to stop at a point of contentment, making a satisfactory ending for the reader. This book encourages change in all aspects including physical and mental, which not only allows the mind to better itself, but for the mind to find a way to cope with all that comes before it. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s message is crystal clear, and Hester Prynne could not be a more exceptional