Scarlet Letter in Review

In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, we are introduced to a very bold, assured woman Hester Prynne. She has committed adultery and as punishment to the sin within the Puritan village, she is to wear the scarlet letter on her bosom for the remainder of her life. "'˜Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone.'" (Hawthorne, P. 69).

Hester is sentenced to wear the scarlet letter for all of her days, as a symbol of shame to the community. Hester realizes as Pearl, her daughter and result of sin grows she can be a great testament of proof to others that everyone makes mistakes, even ones they would not change if they had the chance. "'˜God gave me this child...He gave her in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness! She is my torture, none the less. Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a millionfold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!'" (Hawthorne, P. 112). Hester believes the outcome of Pearl's life will offer her retribution, and as a good mother, willingly providing for her daughters every need and loving her wholeheartedly, Hester is fueled that the governor has implied taking Pearl away from her.

Hawthorne's implication of the scarlet letter being portrayed as Pearl and retribution for sin reminds me of the belief of Catholicism and their being able to pay for their sins; the foundation for many of the Puritan way of life. To Hester, she believes she has the newfound opportunity through her sin and Pearl to perform well as a mother.

Hawthorne also implies that Hester's "A" enables her to walk securely amongst her townspeople. " -- the propensity of human nature to tell the very worst of itself, when embodied in the person of another, would constrain them to whisper the black scandal of bygone years. It was none the less a fact, that in the eyes of the very men who spoke thus, the scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom. It imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril."

I believe that the letter did start to provide Hester with security. Her sins were aired, providing her with a clear conscience and a pure heart. This gave her an advantage over the rest of the townspeople, who did not air their sins, and had to deal with them with their un-clean hearts.

Works Cited.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. 1959. Print.