The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne - 2288 Words

The Scarlet Letter Analysis, â€Å"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A.† (40) Every aspect of the story of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, whether it be major or minor, stems from this line. From beginning to end, the scarlet letter has a major bearing on the unfolding of the plot. Hester Prynne, an adulteress, is spared death for her sin, but she must wear a scarlet letter â€Å"A† for the rest of her life. Her husband, who has been living with Native Americans for the past two years, arrives in town just in time to see her holding a baby and being publicly humiliated for the crime of adultery and vows to get revenge. As†¦show more content†¦Through development of the two characters, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, Hawthorne melds a vision of a world in which adversity and freedom enhance the life of the soul. To begin with, Hawthorne presents a tale of persevering though it feels as if everything is crumbling, which is revealed in the metamorphosis of Hester and Dimmesdale, a transformation from hopelessness to hope in both of their cases. In the case of Hester, she cannot give up, even though her future seems terrifyingly dim. She has Pearl to live and make a life for, so she must force herself to push forward through the pain. â€Å"But she named the infant ‘Pearl,’ as being of great price,-purchased with all she had,-her mother’s only treasure! How strange, indeed! Man had marked this woman’s sin by a scarlet letter which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself. God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonored bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven!† (67) God has given Hester this wonderful, lovely baby girl, her one and only treasure, as a result of what the townspeople think is one of the worst acts a woman can commit. Even though her punishment is harsh and results in the alienation of her from the community, Hawthorne makes sure to include