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The Scarlet Letter: The Price Of Shame

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Public shame has been seen as an indirect form of torture for many years, but is it really the worst consequence for a person? People who are publicly shamed carry around the scarlet letter of guilt on them because everyone knows them as "the person who did..." and not who they really are as a person. Everyone focuses on the negative side of the story; The guilt, pain, and suffering of being known as "the girl with the scarlet letter", or "the girl who had an affair with the president of the United States", or "the girl who wrote a controversial tweet". But what comes after it? What is the light at the end of the tunnel for these people? Is there a light? Is there ever an end? Using the sources of the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the speech, “The Price of Shame”, …show more content…

Anyone can search up a name and find out about another person, making information readily accessible. Social media has a huge effect on people like Monica Lewinsky. After her secret went public, news got around in hours, minutes, seconds, flying from one person's phone to another. Her story was on the cover page of websites like yahoo, CNN, and NBC news within hours of publication. Monica Lewinsky said “It was the first time the traditional news was usurped by the internet for a major news story, a click that reverberated around the world.” (Lewinsky 1). Within minutes, people did not think of her as Monica Lewinsky, but as “the woman who slept with the President”, all because of social media. The internet is a powerful and dangerous place. Justine Sacco found that out the hard way, just like Monica Lewinsky. Sacco described the internet as “a mob with 140-character pitchforks” (Sacco 1) who can shut down a person’s life in seconds. All of Sacco’s social media accounts were forced to shut down for her own safety because people were getting out of hand in a situation that really didn’t even concern

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