Sin In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

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Maya Stephenson Chapter 5 “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin.”(54) Most people think that sin is an abstract concept. But this quote shows that in the Puritan community sin is very real. It also says that every town needs a scapegoat and Hester is the scape goat for her community. The people focus their attention on Hester’s problems instead of working out their issues. The townspeople look at Hester and think about how she used to be pure before she committed her sin. She becomes the model…show more content…
The reader gets the feeling that the townspeople are more impressed by the scarlet A she wears and not for the punishment she is serving for the sins she committed. When Hester gets out of prison everyone starts at her and she is the topic of conversation. But what she doesn’t realize is that the townspeople are talking about the embroidery that she has done. “Lonely as was Hester’s situations, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself, she however, incurred no risk of want.”(56) Hawthorne uses selection to detail of detail to show that Hester Prynne has a wonderful talent for needlework, and that she also loves to make cloths for the townspeople. On the other hand the reader learns that Hester is ashamed of herself, and that she cares what other people think. But she is strong and doesn’t let her feelings show. Hester is a lonely person but she is very resourceful. Hester supports herself with her needle work, which she ironically used to embroider the letter A that she wears as her
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