FREE ESSAY ON THE SCARLET LETTER

THE SCARLET LETTER

The Scarlet Letter- 
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the letter A 
changes it's meaning many different times. This change is significant. 
It shows growth in the characters, and the community in which they 
live. The letter A begins as a symbol of sin. It then becomes a 
symbol of her ability to do and help things, and finally it becomes a 
symbol of her respect for herself. 
The letter A, worn on Hester's 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 not 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 strong woman to be able to hold up so well 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. Any woman with enough nerve to hold up 
against a town which despised her very existence, and to stay in a 
place where her daughter is referred to as a devil child, either has 
some sort of psychological 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 
stand for her ability to create her beautiful needlework and for her 
unselfish assistance to the poor and sick. The letter was the symbol 
of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her- so much power to do 
and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret 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 see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is 
our Hester- the town's 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 
evil, and Hester grew to be quite loved amongst the people of the 
town. Hester overcame the shame of her sin through the purity and 
goodness of her soul. Unselfishly offering her time and love to those 
who needed her the most proved that she was not worthy of the fate 
which had been dealt to her. 
The final face of the letter A was a symbol of Hester's 
respect for herself, and for her life. It just changed to a way of 
life for Hester. After returning to England for years, and helping 
Pearl to gain a better life, Hester returned to don the badge which 
she now felt was a part of her. It is not as if she could not live 
without it and begin a new life in England, but it was easier for her 
to return to America. The Puritan settlement was her home. It was 
where the most important events in her life had occurred, and she felt 
best being there. But there was a more real life for Hester Prynne 
here in New England than in the unknown region where Pearl had found a 
home. Here had been her sin; here, her sorrow; and here was yet to be 
her penitence. (244) Hester was in no way legally or religiously 
bound to wear the badge. She did though. She had found her home in New 
England, and that is where she intended to stay. 
The three changes in the scarlet letter were significant, and 
they showed her sin, her ability and her life. Hester was a strong, 
admirable woman who went through more emotional torture that most 
people go through in a lifetime.