After seeing Mr. Dimmesdale upon the scaffold, Hester was shocked. His condition had been so reduced from the man she had known before. She could readily infer that a terrible devil had been plotting against Mr. Dimmesdale’s well-being. And thus, due to the link of mutual crime between them, Hester decided that Mr. Dimmesdale had a right to her aid. Much had changed since she had first stood upon the scaffold. Seven years had passed, and she, with her scarlet letter, had long been a familiar sight to the townspeople. It is a virtue of human nature that it loves more readily than it hates. And thus Hester --who never battled with the public, who never took advantage of it, who was always devoted to the town--was no longer treated as an outcast …show more content…
Yet when walking through the town’s streets, Hester never raised her head to receive the people’s greetings. If they approached her, she would only lay her finger on the scarlet letter and pass on silently. While this may have been pride, the public saw it as humility (3). Thus, they were inclined to perceive their former victim more kindly than she wished for, or perhaps, than she deserved. The rulers and the wise and learned men of the community took longer to acknowledge Hester’s good qualities. Nevertheless, as time passed, their rigidness was relaxing into an expression of almost benevolence …show more content…
This was an age of expansion for the human intellect, and Hester imbibed (7) this spirit. This freedom of thought, though common on the other side of the Atlantic, would have been held by the townspeople as a deadlier crime than that stigmatized (8) by the scarlet letter. Her speculations (9) were often bold. It is presumed that if not for the little Pearl, she might have become an Ann Hutchinson of sorts, or a prophetess, sentenced to death for attempting to undermine (10) the foundations of the Puritan
When Pearl looks at her mother’s reflection in a convex mirror, she claims to exclusively see the A: “the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it” (95). Hawthorne clearly illustrates how Pearl and the public choose to see Hester merely as her sin. Even numerous years later, Hawthorne suggest that the townspeople still cannot view Hester
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…”(147) Through her benevolent deeds over the years, Hester had managed to merge herself into the society that once scorned her. They no longer speaks badly of her, but would instead brag about her kind and caring nature to strangers. The most obvious change in their perception of Hester also lies in the reinterpretation of the letter “A” on her chest, which would now signify Able, resembling the strength of her heart.
The crime was his life because it seemed everything revolved around it. The only truth, “that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth, was the anguish in his inmost soul, and the undissembled expression of it in his aspect”(100). This sin and his suffering had taken over his life; he had nothing else. Hester had one “treasure”, Pearl, while Dimmesdale had none, leaving him alone in the world,and no one to help him deal with his pain. Dimmesdale had a terrible, undying guilt, which followed him everywhere and never left him.
In addition, Dimmesdale fells guilt even though he still does not confess. Narrator says, “The scarlet letter burned on Hester Prynne’s bosom. Here was another ruin, the responsibility of which came partly home to her” (narrator 154). This ruins Hester life. People in her town wanted her to leave the town or be punished such as wear a big red A on her bosom for the rest of her life.
After Dimmesdale and Hester have their discussion in the forest about freeing themselves from the harsh Puritan society, Dimmesdale ends up having a characteristic transformation. Dimmesdale feels that he has just released his sin that he has been keeping secret all this time, which causes him “at every step to do some strange, wild, wicked thing or another, with a sense that it would be at once involuntary and intentional, in spite of himself, yet growing out of a profounder self than that which opposed the impulse.” This passage is closely foreshadowing how in the new future, Dimmesdale is going to break free from his common characteristic of the noble minister, that he has worn so far throughout the story. Hawthorne also chooses to mention
Although Hester’s exile does cause her a great deal of suffering, Dimmesdale's life of contradiction nearly
It was like a mask; or rather, like the frozen calmness of a dead woman 's features; owing this dreary resemblance to the fact that Hester was actually dead, in respect to any claim of sympathy, and had departed out of the world with which she still seemed to mingle,” this reveals vivid imagery of her face that shows how used to she has become to people’s crude remarks (349). The town has been very accustomed to Hester and her quiet ways, the stillness of her face hides what she is actually feeling.
Yet, despite the heavy burden she has to bear, she acts more civil than most of the characters do in the entirety of “The Scarlet Letter”. Instead of her guilt and shame tearing her down, she chose to rise above it as seen in this quote; “she [Hester] repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will.” (50 Hawthorne) No doubt at this time, Hester’s heart is filled with pain and worry. After all, these were people she has known for some time and perhaps has even befriended.
While Hester is forced to publicly wear a scarlet letter A as her punishment, Dimmesdale refuses to reveal his sin. He instead continues to perform his duties as the town’s well respected minister. Hester moves away from the grasp of the townspeople
The letter gave Hester a new power to sympathize with and be charitable to others. Townspeople even began to interpret the letter very differently from its original meaning. They began to believe that the symbol no longer meant adultery, however, its new significance was to mean “Able” (111). Her selfless acts of kindness attracted the attention of the community as she did needlework for the poor in her spare time. The community did not know the true reason of why Hester did this, but the act caused her true character and natural instinct to be generous to be reflected.
Hester’s personality was “warm and rich,” while Dimmesdale was on the brink of insanity, his personality and soul twisted and
Although the community originally knew Hester as a disgrace, the town’s opinion of her changed over time as she began to do work for the poor and needy. After this shift in the town’s view of Hester, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet [letter] by its original signification” (111). Instead of Hester’s scarlet letter serving as a reminder of her scandalous sin, her peers “ had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as a token . . . of [Hester’s] many good deeds” (111). She became known for her charity and generosity, which caused the civilians to overlook her sinful behavior.
The narrator states, "Arthur Dimmesdale gazed into Hester's face with a look in which hope and joy shone out, indeed, but with fear betwixt them, and a kind of horror at her boldness, who had spoken what he vaguely hinted at, but dared not to speak" (Hawthorne 138). Nevertheless, his moral development continuously stays at Stage 1 "Obedience and Punishment Orientation" because yet again his actions are selfish. He is more considerate about his
Hester not only serves punishment upon the scaffold, but she also completes charitable actions, leading the townspeople to think highly of her. They found a “. . . helpfulness. . . in her. . . [with] much power to do, and power to sympathize. . .”
The townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was. Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.”