n. It then becomes a symbol of Hester's ability to do and help things, and
             finally it becomes a symbol of her respect for herself. In the commencement of the novel, the letter is
             taken as a label of punishment and sin. She stood as an outcast of society, on the scaffold daily where
             her punishment was given for hours at a time, "thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the
             ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone." (Hawthorne, 59) The letter's meaning in
             Puritan society banishes her from her normal life. As Hester is above the townspeople on a scaffold,
             Dimmesdale and others are still "above" her.
             In the middle of the novel there is a transition period where the letter "A" is viewed
             differently than before. The letter changes from a symbol of sin to a more vague symbol. Society now
             sees Hester as a person who is strong yet bears a symbol which differs from herself. The letter's
             meaning has changed, "Hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love,
             unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility." (147)
             Another view of the letter is that it portrays and symbolizes guilt. It portrays the guilt of
             Dimmesdale, the father of Hester's child. Hester has learned to deal with her punishment and grow
             stronger from it, but Dimmesdale, who went unpunished and is a respectable man in the Puritan
             society, must now live with the guilt of having a child "illegally." (Johnson, 63) This guilt causes him
             to become weaker throughout the seven years of Pearls life, as the novel as oppose to He
             ...