Why Did Hester Choose Not To Leave In The Scarlet Letter

V. Hester at Her Needle Hester decides not to leave the colony because of her close ties to it. On page 75 it says, "Her sin, her ignominy, were the roots which she had struck into the soil." This means that she feels like she can't leave because it is the place where she has sinned and it would not be much of a punishment if she escaped it. She wants to stay there to better herself and become a new and improved woman. She feels like it would be immoral and wrong to leave her place of shame instead of being punished for her crimes. On page 76 it describes this by saying, "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment [...]" Another reason Hester chose not to leave is because she does not …show more content…
In this chapter, Hawthorne makes a reference to Pearl's actions being "full of fire and passion." Her scarlet dress, although a part of Hester's imagination and needlework, seems to intensify this "fire and passion." Also, on page 96 it talks about Puritan children wantin to throw mud at Pearl, however, it then says, "But Pearl, who was a dauntless child [...] suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies, and put them all to flight. She resembled, in her fierce pursuit of them, an infant pestilence,—the scarlet fever, or some such half-fledged angel of judgment,—whose mission was to punish the sins of the rising generation." She is described as an "angel of judgement," and an "infant pestilence." Once this fire within her is exhausted, she returns to Hester and smiles at her. Pearl's "scarlet appearance" is closely affiliated with the scarlet letter Hester wears. Even with the clothes Pearl is dressed in, Hester gives "the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play," and embroiders her clothes "with fantasies and flourishes of gold-thread." These physical descriptions of Pearl are closely tied with those of the scarlet