Badge of shame

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is publicly put to shame for committing adultery. Other than being isolated from the town, she is given the letter ‘A’ to wear permanently. As the novel continues, Hawthorn highlights her strong characteristics as she manages being a sinner. John Updike established the character of Hester as a “mythic version of every woman’s attempt to integrate her sexuality with societal demands.” It can be concluded that Updike intended to say that…

Dimmesdale hides his own shame with through his guilt, while the public bestows a mark upon Hester. Through a political lens, In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne wants to point out the flaw in public humiliation and how it fails to address the problem. Instead, Hawthorne wants to show how public humiliation only serves to benefit…

“Beauty is a radiance that originates from within and comes from inner security and strong character”(Unknown). In the novel The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrays Hester Prynne, the protagonist, as a strong character through the public eye of humiliation, disobeying the Puritan society, and the situation with her lover and her husband, from the sin of adultery she has committed, but is still able overcome to live her life as ordinary as possible. In the opening of the…

Red v. Black The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is full of symbolism especially in regards to the use of the colors red and black. This symbolism is important to the story and how we perceive the characters in it. Hawthorne uses color association throughout the novel to help accentuate the importance or meaning of a person, event, or object. Red symbolizes many things throughout the novel such as love, passion, lust, and sin. The most important use of red in the novel is the…

have people look at me with disgust. I would regret it so much. Having my name and my reputation tainted and tattered. The guilt of having hurt so many people, including my parents would eat at me. I would feel like dying, to free myself from the shame and humiliation. People would mention my name when they would talk about social stigmas. I would feel so lonely and dishonoured. Lewinsky became a focal point of a huge political scandal and a celebrity of sorts. She collaborated with Andrew…

In Source A, the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne displays both public and private guilt which characters express because they were publicly shamed. “In a moment,however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but properly serve to hide another...with a burning bush, and a yet haughty smile, and glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbors. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate…

“You're Ugly”, “You look weird” these are successions of public shaming that often occurring on social media every day. Public shame is known for humiliating and dishonoring people, Are there any benefits? Or should public shaming became a thing of the past? In The Scarlet Letter (Source A), Hester Prynne is known for being a sinner and is shamed because of it. In The Price of Shame (Source B), Monica Lewinski has been publicly shamed for having unnormal feelings for her boss, which happens to…

place in our society today? Political figures like Jed Bush feel humiliation is the way to handle unwed mothers, and parents believe it would be an effective way to reprimand their misbehaving children. Additionally, some courts are trying to include shame as a criminal sentence. However, in the court systems, the ambiguous term can result in unusual or unfair sentencing amongst judges, as there are no clear guidelines being used. Furthermore, criminals should not be empowered to decide their…

relationship towards one another? Simply, the singular facet that differs these two societies, also links them in similar ways. Both today’s society and Puritan’s society, can be compared through the way they view crimes, the way they determine when to shame people, and the way the shaming is handled. Today’s society and Puritan’s society…

Humans are surrounded by poverty everywhere they go, but never realized the long lasting effects of it in our society and individuals. In the essay "Black Hair" by Gary Soto, he explains the life of a young seventeen year old Mexican who struggles on the streets to make a decent living . Soto is able to portray the emotions and experiences of his life by writing the essay in first person. The audience has the opportunity to relate towards what life is when not having a place to sleep at night,…