The Scarlet Letter
The Crime and Punishment of Hester Prynne In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main theme is crime and punishment and the ways Hester Prynne overcomes adversity. She commits adultery, a very bad crime back then, and has a scarlet letter "A" embroidered on her dress. This is a constant reminder of the crime she committed and is a warning to others that she is a sinner. The letter completely changes her life and is viewed differently by everybody, in a bad way. Because of her crime, she is not allowed to make wedding gowns, even though she is an expert seamstress. It also affects her because Pearl, her daughter, becomes alienated and Hester worriers about her well-being. But in the end, people who once scorned her, come to recognize that she is not a bad person and she slowly gains acceptance. Through the course of the novel, it is evident she starts of high on the social ladder, then falls to the bottom, but slowly climbs her way up. Even though Pearl is alienated from the people, and Hester is not allowed to make wedding gowns, she slowly gains the people's acceptance and becomes much more comfortable with herself. The novel never really gives the reader a complete insight into the previous life of Hester
"But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride. When Hester committed that terrible crime, she was punished for it for many years, in many different ways. This directly affects Hester because she is concerned for Pearl and worried that her sin is making her daughter's life miserable. Her child, as well as she, were alienated from society and frowned upon. "The scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, and yet with reverence too"(pg. Nothing was more remarkable than the instinct, as it seemed, with which the child comprehended her loneliness; the destiny that had drawn an inviolable circle around her; the whole peculiarity, in short, of her position in respect to the other children. But she comes through and wins custody of her child, and this is the start of her climb back up the ladder. The exemption indicated the ever relentless vigor with which society frowned upon her sin" (pg. 90)Hester has to live with her child being a known "imp of evil" which is probably very hard on her. Thereby, every good Christian man hath a title to show a father's kindness towards the poor, deserted babe. She was not allowed to make bride's veils because people didn't want something dirty to tailor something which represented purity and cleanliness.
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