Hester Prynne As A Hero In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

A hero is one who displays actions which can be viewed as brave and courageous; something that separates one from an average person. Hester displays heroic qualities through her trials and tribulations by the town of Boston. She is shunned from the community, distances herself from the world she once knew, but by the end, has become a symbol of good deeds and charity. Her badge of shame had now taken on a new meaning, “Such helpfulness was found in her--so much power to do, and power to sympathise--that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Abel, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman 's strength.” (132). Hester had been given multiple opportunities to leave the town and the scarlet letter with her, yet she remains because there she is free to defy the boundaries set by Puritan standards. Beyond that, Hester …show more content…
He allows the characters to contradict themselves on multiple accounts, as seen in The New England Holiday, where the town is elaborately dressed for the event, “the Puritans compressed whatever mirth and public joy they deemed allowable to human infirmity; thereby so far dispelling the customary cloud, that, for the space of a single holiday, they appeared scarcely more grave than most other communities at a period of general affliction.” (191). He uses juxtaposition of the Puritans normal attire with that for the festival showing how hypocritical the community was for having condemned Hester for such a well decorated scarlet letter. Hawthorne portrays the Puritans as self righteous beings, who refuse to admit that they are just as flawed as Hester. They try to deny it, but being drawn to sin is a part of human nature. As those who say they have not experienced those urges, those who claim to be holy and pure, are often the ones who cannot be