The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

The cerise Letter- In Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, the garner "A" changes its meaning many unlike times. This change is significant. It shows growth in the characters, and the community in which they live. The garner "A" begins as a symbol of sin. It then becomes a symbol of her competency to do and help things, and finally it becomes a symbol of her respect for herself. The letter "A," worn on Hesters bodice, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This letter is meant to be worn in shame, and to make Hester feel unwanted. "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment . . ." (84) Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses non to show it. She committed this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it because, though she is ashamed, she also received her greatest treasure, Pearl, out of it. She is a very wet woman to be able to hold up so w ell(p) against what she must face. Many would have fled Boston, and sought a place where no one knew of her great sin. Hester chose to stay though, which showed a lot of strength and integrity. some(prenominal) woman with enough nerve to hold up against a township which despised her very existence, and to stay in a place where her girlfriend is referred to as a "devil child," either has some sort of mental problem, or is a very tough woman. The second meaning that the letter "A" took was "able." The townspeople who once condemned her now believed her scarlet "A" to persist for her ability to create her beautiful needlework and for her unselfish assistance to the abject and sick. "The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such adjuvantness was found in her- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to pick up the scarlet A by its original signification." (156) At this point, a lot of the townspeople realized what a high quality character Hester possessed. "Do you square off that woman with the embroidered tag? It is our Hester- the towns own Hester- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted" (157) The townspeople soon began to believe that the badge served to ward off