Scarlet Letter Integrity Quotes

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Jonathan Davis Lit/comp 3 Mrs. Clements 1/21/13 Throughout the novel A Scarlet Letter by author Nathan Hawthorne, there is only one character that stands out as having any sort of integrity, although many claim she has none. In my opinion, Hester Prynne is the only character that can be undoubtedly analyzed as having integrity. When civilization cast her out, she fought for what she believed and for her rights. This is way more than any of the other characters could ever claim, and it is why she has integrity. During the time frame in which A Scarlet Letter is set, communication was terrible. It took weeks, months, sometimes even years for a message to reach someone if it found them at all. The whole problem starts when Hester’s husband sends her o America alone when he promises to follow later. She waits for him but he never comes. Thinking that he is dead, she starts having a relationship with a local minister named Dimmesdale. Together they have a kid, much to the despair of the town who looks down upon Hester for “cheating” upon her husband. Although the town breaks Hester down to the core for her sins, she keeps her integrity by refusing to revel who the father is, which would surely doom him to the same fate as her.…show more content…
Chillingsworth tells Hester that he bears no ill will against her because he was foolish for sending her alone, but that he will find the father at all costs, which concerns Hester very much because she loves Dimmesdale. She argues with Chillingsworth that it is unjust for him to punish just one and not both but he won’t have it. Chillingsworth is bent solely on Dimmesdale and seeking revenge against the man who took his wife. The fact that even Hester argues for Dimmesdale’s life through all he made her go through alone makes the reader have the highest respect for Hester because of her
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