Camille Mihalchik
AP Literature
July 16, 2014
Hester
Prynne, the woman who was ridiculed for committing adultery in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel
Hawthorne, portrayed how motivations can change a person in the eyes of the
community. In the 17th century novel, Hester ultimately chooses to
accept her punishment, therefore moving on and improving her life, along with attempting to protect the two people she loved, Pearl and Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. Hester showed
that it was her duty to bring herself, Pearl, and Reverend Mr.
Dimmesdale together, as they were connected together with love and the crime of
adultery. In the middle of the book, the narrator summed up all of Hester’s
motivations, stating, “And there stood the minister, with his hand over his
heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom;
and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting like between those two”
(Hawthorne 135).
Directly
after Hester’s crime was announced to the community, Hester was greeted with
derision. This derision was a way to show Hester how awfully she wronged the
community and the Puritan views on how adulteresses are dealt with. Upon the
release of Hester from prison, the narrator stated, “It had the effect of a
spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and in-closing
her in a sphere by herself” (50). At this moment, Hester was defined as the
woman with the Scarlet Letter “A” that burned and glowed on her chest, rather
than a woman who simply made a mistake because for the people of the Puritan
community, Hester’s crime was bigger than a simple mistake. This Scarlet Letter
symbolized a woman who committed an appalling crime and betrayed her husband.
After living in pain and hiding for many years, Hester decided that she would change
and better her life rather than mourn by helping the sick, bringing food to the
poor, and by being a source of aid. Through these acts, many forgot that Hester
still wore the Scarlet Letter “A”, which symbolized adultery, the narrator
stated, “The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found
in her, - so much power to do, and power to sympathize, - that many people
refused to interpret the scarlet letter A by its original signification. They
said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength”
(141). To the reader, this shows that despite original beliefs, people can
change or adapt, shown through Hester and through the people who once thought
she was a unpleasant person, but now thought that she was a respectable person.
To enhance what Hester had done, the narrator later stated “Individuals in
private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay,
more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that
one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good
deeds since. ‘Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?’ they would say
to strangers. ‘It is our Hester, - the town’s own Hester, - who is so kind to
the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!‘“ (142). By doing
these acts of kindness, Hester was Able to improve her life for the sake of
herself and her family. Hester’s motivations were to accept her crime and move
on from it and instead of hurting the community like before, she chose to help
and improve it.
The
ridicule experienced by Hester ended through the seven years she had before she
and her accomplice in adultery, her secret lover, which she cheated on her
husband with, decided that the community should know the truth. Hester’s motives
for this was that she wanted the community to know her final secrets, probably
making sure that there were no more secrets that she would leave in America
before deporting to Europe. With their decision to leave for Europe together
with their daughter, Pearl, Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale had to give a speech on
Election Day, letting the community know his secret. His secret was that he was
Pearl’s father, which was the reason for why he had been sick for so long; he
too wore the pain of the scarlet letter. After Dimmesdale admitted to his
secret, the narrator stated, “That final word came forth with the minister’s
expiring breath. The multitude, silent till then, broke out in a strange, deep
voice of awe and wonder, which could not as yet find utterance, save in this
murmur that rolled so heavily after the departed spirit” (222). Through the
death of Dimmesdale, Hester was not able to fulfill her wish of moving to
Europe together, but the idea of it was all that mattered as they were trying
to create a new life, accepting and escaping from their old one. After the
death of Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl moved to Europe, but Hester later moved
back to America by herself. Many believed that Pearl was a woman, now married and
happy. Hester ultimately lost Dimmesdale due to his secret, his part in Hester’s
sin, and his guilt, along with Pearl, in which Hester lost to womanhood.
Through this outcome and ending of the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the
reader that through her motivations, Hester was able to create a better life
for herself while literally wearing and accepting her sin, yet she was never
able to escape her sin, the cause for why she lost the two most important people
in her life.
No comments:
Post a Comment