The Scarlet Letter: The Treasure In Her Misery
The Treasure in her Misery Nothing good can come from that which is known to be evil, right? In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne paints the picture that what is generally known as evil and sinful, can blossom into something much greater. The puritans in this book do not agree with this logic very well, as they show many times through their public acts of hate towards Hester. The story about Hester and her sin’s impact on the naïve puritan town shows that good can, in fact, come from bad. Although initially it appears that Hester is doomed to live a horrible life because of the mark she bears, both Pearl and the A’s transformation can prove that something once viewed as unworthy can transform into something good. While Pearl may not
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She needs to distance herself as much as possible from the true meaning of the letter to be accepted by society again. To do this, she starts doing the best she can, and proves that she is strong enough to survive on her own. After a few years, the townsfolk start to accept her for who she is, and ignore what she once did. Hawthorne states, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 111). Hawthorn’s point is that people no longer ridicule her for her symbol, and instead look up to it. She has proven herself to the town and made a good situation out of a bad one. Another instance of the goodness that can come from the letter is shown as Hester approaches old age. When she returns from her travels, the people held a different view of the scarlet letter. The author writes, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too” (Hawthorne 179). Hawthorne is showing that even though it was a curse for so many years, it has become a sign of respect. Hester transforms the meaning of the letter, which originally represents sin, into something that represents the best in her and the story of her
She needs to distance herself as much as possible from the true meaning of the letter to be accepted by society again. To do this, she starts doing the best she can, and proves that she is strong enough to survive on her own. After a few years, the townsfolk start to accept her for who she is, and ignore what she once did. Hawthorne states, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 111). Hawthorn’s point is that people no longer ridicule her for her symbol, and instead look up to it. She has proven herself to the town and made a good situation out of a bad one. Another instance of the goodness that can come from the letter is shown as Hester approaches old age. When she returns from her travels, the people held a different view of the scarlet letter. The author writes, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too” (Hawthorne 179). Hawthorne is showing that even though it was a curse for so many years, it has become a sign of respect. Hester transforms the meaning of the letter, which originally represents sin, into something that represents the best in her and the story of her