The Scarlet Letter

Dania Lopez1

January 9, 2012

English III Honors

The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter follows the public shaming and punishment of a young woman named Hester Prynne in mid-17th century Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony. When Hester becomes pregnant, everyone believes her to be guilty of adultery: she has been separated from her husband for two full years, and the baby cannot be his. The magistrates and ministers order her to wear a scarlet letter "A" on the bodice of her dress, so that everyone can know about her adultery. In the Puritan society government and religion are the same so when even the slightest crimes are committed the punishment is to be lynched. Even though the Puritan's society has lack of compassion, humanity, and hope Hester provides the underlying of hope theme of hope in The Scarlet Letter. 'Thy acts are like mercy,' said Hester, bewildered and appalled. 'But they words interpret thee as a terror!'

First of all Hester is young beautiful heroine that has hope, courage, and honesty. Even though she has committed a crime where the Puritans believe the crime that she has committed is the worse any woman can do. She still believes that there is hope and her humble silence becomes a huge impact in the Puritan society. What keeps her hope going is her daughter Pearl.

Pearl is a very moody girl. A mood ring would get a workout if it ever had to predict her emotions. Hester learns very early on that her daughter has a mind of her own. The Pearl is very moody girl because she doesn't fully understand why the town is against her mother and why her mother has to wear the letter A on her chest. In the novel she has a couple of breakdowns and acts all crazy because she is confused and it's too much for a little girl's mind to handle. Example Pearl never played with other children she didn't have any friends. There was one incident where a lot of children surrounded her and she began to freak out so she started throwing rocks at them. Even though Pearl is crazy she plays a big role and has a deep connection to The Scarlet Letter. She does not understand why Hester wears the letter A but she is very used to it - in fact, she has never known her mother without it. It gives her comfort; she sometimes teases her mother about the letter or about how society views her, but she loves and supports her mom. Hester also has comfort knowing that Pearl loves her and supports her even when the whole village is against her that is what makes her sustain her hope.

Secondly Pearl isn't the only person that keeps Hester's hope going. Hester is madly in love with a man named Rev. Arthur Dimmsdale. Reverend