Transformation In The Scarlet Letter

Gregory Gulick
Ms. Kelly
III English A1
10 October 2017

Transformation happens all around us. In your everyday life, in movies, on television, in literature, it's everywhere! It can change you, someone you know, or someone you don't know. It can even change the world! This axiom is shown in the American classic, The Scarlet Letter, in chapter 13, Hester Prynne was shocked by how different the clergyman had seemed. He had nearly lost his nerve. His moral strength had been reduced to that of a child. But then again, his mind was as strong as ever. Hester, with insight of certain information, could easily guess what occurred. In this chapter Hester transformed from feeling ashamed and guilty, to feeling loved and free of her burdens. Knowing
what this poor, man had once been, Hester was lifted by how desperate he had begged her. Her, the outcast, for assistance against the adversary he had now uncovered.

Following her conversation with Dimmesdale, Hester is appalled by the changes she was seeing within him.
He is weak, and she could derive but one theory. That "a terrible machinery had been brought to bear, and was still operating on Mr. Dimmesdale's well-being and repose." Four years have passed, Hester's position in society has reversed. She has been given credit for bearing her humiliation with gallantry, and her life has been one of whiteness since the birth of Pearl. While Dimmesdale's sermons have become more merciful and blessed because of his suffering, Hester's position has risen because of her endowment. She has borne her shame with grandeur. The town now describes her as one "who is so kind to the poor, helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!" Now the scarlet letter has magical qualities, and myths are growing around its power. But this new definition of Hester Prynne had a very hefty price tag. Her charm, passion , and warmth that she once showed have been reinstated by coldness, and colorlessness. There is no tenderness, or passion in her life. Her humanity has been peeled away from her. In chapter thirteen, this can be summed up by this excerpt, "It is to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates. Hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love, unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility."
This quote shows that even though love is stronger than hate, it's harder to overcome hate. Hate will always be eating away at Hester.

This reminds me of a movie from when I was little.
Nick Hurran's, It's A Boy/Girl Thing, has a very similar story to this portion of The Scarlet Letter, in this movie, two enemies get the chance to switch bodies, and they use this to destroy each other's lives. This relates to how Hester's life was destroyed and Dimmesdale's unwavering guilt. In the end of the movie, they end up helping each other achieve their goals. However they felt at that time, throughout the movie they both enacted very detrimental pranks on one another. Therefore their left with a feeling of guilt and hatred, even though love overcomes it for a short time. This is because even though love can beat hatred in a fight, hatred and guilt stay with one's self forever. Always eating away at their
soul.

In conclusion, transformation can occur in many different instances. More than you can possibly realize. We are transformed a little everyday. Other people have a great impact on how we transform ourselves. And even though love is stronger than hate, guilt and hate can never be fully defeated forever. It always crawls back to haunt us. The Scarlet Letter is a great example of how guilt can scar you forever, no matter how hard you may try to fix it. There may be a way around letting this happen to you though. If you find it in yourself to negate those who try to pull you down, you can ultimately never face guilt like Hester did.