The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne because It Is what she is forced to do as punishment for her iniquity. The letter, be It so simple as a symbol of the alphabet, Is symbolic of the shame Hester carries within herself and the judgment that others place upon her after she sins.
Hester is Just a small representation of all sinners who each carry their own ineligible A. In Boston, Hester was forced to wear the A just 17 years old. Everyone in the town knew the As literal meaning which was adulterer. Ears later, at age 24, Hester and her fellow sinner Mr.
. Timescale plan to flee to England with their daughter, Pearl, to escape the wrath of sin lingering In New England. Even with Mr..
Timescales death, Hester and Pearl proceed to seal to England. When they leave for England, her chest no longer bears the A. However, is the scarlet A really something one can escape? She may have left the beautifully adorned letter in America but the A in her heart will always be with her because although Hester A manifested itself on her breast, it was also internally engraved on her mind and soul. Hester never Is free of the shame she feels Inside. This is the reason “ Hester Prying had returned, and taken up her long forsaken shame,” (246). Hester returns to her childhood Puritan society In New England and consoles other women on their mistakes to continue to make up for her wrongdoing. She wears the A once again to outwardly express her shame instead of hiding it inside like she has for so many years while in Europe.
To make everything worse in Hester life, aside from her internal remorse, she has to deal with the perpetual judgment of others. Hester deals with the Judgment of others by simply making the best of the A she has been subject to wear. She decorates It with shimmering golden thread to make the best of a bad situation and doesn’t try to hide It because she knows It will do her no good. Since she wears the A all the time while in Massachusetts, except for a short while in the forest, she is always being looked down upon, mostly by the women in the society. Even while in Europe, the people in Massachusetts do not forget about Hester because when she returns “ Women, more especially- in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wrongedћ. Name to Hester cottage demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy,” (247).
Although these women do not Judge her, it proves many people still talk and know of her in which a good amount of those people Judge her for her mistake. Hester A represents the shame of sin and judgment that all people get when they sin. Every single person sins throughout their fife and people are continual sinners, but Just not necessarily to the degree of Hester. Many sins that would have been dealt with very harshly, even by execution in the 17th century, are more common In today’s society.
Some of these In fact may be considered almost “ acceptable” while others are still not “ acceptable” but are tolerated. In either case, those offenders with a conscience are often still left with unbearable shame and a tarnished reputation. Each person in this world has their own symbolic A that they carry with them through their whole life after sinning. Even Hough, in the world today one is not punished by wearing an A on their chest, it is because of the way she deals with her sin.
She is not over dramatic like Arthur Timescale nor is she ignorant of the fact that she has done a terrible deed. She does acts of kindness and repents for her sin in hope of God’s forgiveness. For the most part, this is how all people should compensate for their sins but in some cases, like capital crimes such as rape or murder, the toll is often too large to repay and they must live with the heavy weight of guilt and the Judgment of others forever.
Hester A symbolizes the shame and Judgment that she herself will never leave behind as well as the shame and Judgment of all people that one can never escape. Ere A never leaves Hester nor will it ever leave any sinner. A sin is forever engraved in the wrongdoers mind and soul. However, every A has a pleasant aspect as well; a lesson. Hester learns from her mistake and uses it to raise Pearl properly.
All people should follow Hester example in order to reduce the everlasting affects of the flaming A burning in their hearts.