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Examples Of Heinous Punishment In The Scarlet Letter

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What if the people of today were punished for all the wrong, but small actions that they did? In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne does an outstanding job of expressing the true of his characters’. In the story adults are constrained by societal expectations. Hester Prynne, the main character of The Scarlet Letter, is accused of adultery, and has to wear the scarlet “A” on her chest. Hester, even after her punishment and the town forgiving her, she still kept the scarlet letter “A” on her chest. The letter became a part of her, and it is a reminder to herself that she is strong. In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne endures heinous punishment due to the strict beliefs of the town, her husband, and the Puritan religion. Firstly, …show more content…

In addition, Hester has to abide by the rules of the Puritan religion and she is concerned for their rigid and oppressive rules. The Puritans have strong beliefs where society, religion, and the family lifestyle is adjacent. Hawthorne states, “Thus, we seem to see that, as regarded Hester Prynne, the whole seven years of outlaw and ignominy had been little other than a preparation for this very hour” (Hawthorne 177). Hester Prynne has been thrown out of the community for seven years and she does not expect to follow any of the Puritan rules. She should not have to follow the rules of a place that she does not belong to.The townspeople all look at Hester as an example for a sinner. Hawthorne composes, “ Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin” (Hawthorne 69). The little kids, and the woman will see Hester as an example as what would happen if they were to commit a sin. Seabrook addresses, “She 's forced to stand in shame before the mass of Puritan citizens, enduring their stares, their whispers and their contempt. In the self-righteous eyes of the townspeople, she is the ultimate example of sin” (Seabrook 1). None of the townspeople wanted to be like Hester Prynne, she was an example of what the people should not do. The townspeople have a strong belief in the Puritan religion and any wrong doings that go against it will be a sin and receive a

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