You Be the Judge
As Rick Warren once said, “We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” We live in a way to prevent mistakes—not taking risks, expanding our comfort zones, or jumping outside the boxes we hide in. It is always difficult to accept our failures and shortcomings, but it always has a way of teaching us valuable lessons. Our mistakes are gifts and guideposts in our learning and growth as people. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, he reveals that the most important virtue is the capacity for self growth and the most destructive human weakness is hypocrisy. Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to emphasize the flaws in Puritan society. As Hester emerges from the prison and makes …show more content…
One woman whispers, “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead…little will she care what they put on the bodice of her gown” (51). The women believe that Hester deserves a more severe punishment, one that will hurt her physically and psychologically. In this Puritan society, people are supposedly firm believers in the Bible, but the Bible advocates forgiveness and toleration. Rather than glorifying God by demonstrating empathy and patience, the women demonstrate hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Hester is certainly not the only person who has sinned, she stills faces constant judgment. It is fair to say that she becomes the town’s scapegoat. Her public punishment gives the townspeople, particularly the women, a chance to convince themselves of their own piety by criticizing her. Rather than seeing their own potential sinfulness in Hester and potentially learning from her mistakes, the townspeople see her as someone whose sins outweigh their own. Hester is released from the prison and is free to leave Boston, but chooses to live as an outcast in the wilderness. “Walking to and fro, …show more content…
She admits that she committed her crime in a time of passion, and though she is ashamed of her sins, she is also grateful because it resulted in the birth of her beloved daughter, Pearl. Hester is a strong and able woman who is able to maintain her composure and self worth through continuous judgment. As the story progresses, the letter “A” takes on new meanings. In the beginning to the novel, the “A” stands for “adulterer,” but evolves into representing that Hester is “able.” The letter became a symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, power to sympathize,…they said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (161). At this point in novel, not only has Hester grown to be a more compassionate and generous person, but the community that a had judged her so unfairly has become less self-righteous and has forgiven her for her sins. "Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is our Hester- the town 's own Hester- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted!” (162). As readers, we can se that the Puritans are finally beginning to glorify God by practicing his word and not just but teaching it. The townspeople soon began to believe that the badge served to ward off evil, and Hester grew to be admired amongst the people in her community. Hester was able to atone for her sin through sincere acts of
As Rick Warren once said, “We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” We live in a way to prevent mistakes—not taking risks, expanding our comfort zones, or jumping outside the boxes we hide in. It is always difficult to accept our failures and shortcomings, but it always has a way of teaching us valuable lessons. Our mistakes are gifts and guideposts in our learning and growth as people. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, he reveals that the most important virtue is the capacity for self growth and the most destructive human weakness is hypocrisy. Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to emphasize the flaws in Puritan society. As Hester emerges from the prison and makes …show more content…
One woman whispers, “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead…little will she care what they put on the bodice of her gown” (51). The women believe that Hester deserves a more severe punishment, one that will hurt her physically and psychologically. In this Puritan society, people are supposedly firm believers in the Bible, but the Bible advocates forgiveness and toleration. Rather than glorifying God by demonstrating empathy and patience, the women demonstrate hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Hester is certainly not the only person who has sinned, she stills faces constant judgment. It is fair to say that she becomes the town’s scapegoat. Her public punishment gives the townspeople, particularly the women, a chance to convince themselves of their own piety by criticizing her. Rather than seeing their own potential sinfulness in Hester and potentially learning from her mistakes, the townspeople see her as someone whose sins outweigh their own. Hester is released from the prison and is free to leave Boston, but chooses to live as an outcast in the wilderness. “Walking to and fro, …show more content…
She admits that she committed her crime in a time of passion, and though she is ashamed of her sins, she is also grateful because it resulted in the birth of her beloved daughter, Pearl. Hester is a strong and able woman who is able to maintain her composure and self worth through continuous judgment. As the story progresses, the letter “A” takes on new meanings. In the beginning to the novel, the “A” stands for “adulterer,” but evolves into representing that Hester is “able.” The letter became a symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, power to sympathize,…they said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (161). At this point in novel, not only has Hester grown to be a more compassionate and generous person, but the community that a had judged her so unfairly has become less self-righteous and has forgiven her for her sins. "Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is our Hester- the town 's own Hester- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted!” (162). As readers, we can se that the Puritans are finally beginning to glorify God by practicing his word and not just but teaching it. The townspeople soon began to believe that the badge served to ward off evil, and Hester grew to be admired amongst the people in her community. Hester was able to atone for her sin through sincere acts of