Essay/Term paper: Hester

Essay, term paper, research paper:  The Scarlet Letter

Tim Gibson
Hour 7

HESTER PRYNE


Hester Pryne, after being punished for her sin, lived an important life. In "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester was convicted of adultery. However, after her conviction, she managed to raise a daughter, became an important seamstress in her community, and set an example for her close-knit community.
Pearl, the daughter of a convicted sex offender, grew up living a different life from her peers. Growing up with Hester, Pearl never really associated with children from her age group. This happened because whenever Hester and Pearl went into town, they were tormented and harassed. In retaliation, Pearl began to throw rocks back at the children. This kind of thing only happened in the beginning of Pearl"s life. Later on, the kids stopped harassing Pearl because her mom"s sin did not have as much effect on the people of the town. The best thing that ever happened to Pearl was her move to Europe with Hester and her father, Reverend Dimmesdale. In Europe, Hester pretty much left Pearl alone. Pearl, then got married and started a new life. In the book, Pearl was always the smartest character portrayed by Hawthorne. Had Hester been put to death because of her sin, Pearl might not have been as successful as she became.
Hester was a very admirable person. After committing her awful sin (awful as seen by the townspeople), and losing the respect of most of the townspeople, Hester was able to turn her life around for the better. Her turn around, however, happened slowly. It took Hester and Pearl a while to earn some respect in their community. Hester became a renowned seamstress. She made clothes for herself and Pearl, she even sewed gloves for the governor. For Pearl, she made some beautiful dresses. She made some of these dresses a crimson color, (which was a color close to scarlet). She did this to remind herself of her sin. Most people, if put into a situation similar to Hester"s, would let their life deteriorate. Hester, having pulled her life together was the strongest character, (mentally), in this book. Her life was anything but a waste.
To Her community, Hester served as an example of how one can turn their life around almost 180 degrees. Back when Hester lived, people were heavily punished for their crimes. These people had no chance to revive their life. Hester was a criminal, but she was not punished so greatly that she would not be able to earn her respect. She mostly set an example to the judges of her time. She showed them that just because a person did one thing bad that they would be a bad person the rest of their life. She also showed the townspeople that they should not judge people on their past, yet they should accept people for what they are at present time. Hester was a good person for this job of showing her community, due to her success she had later in life. Hester"s life was not only not a waste to her, but if it were not for her, the townspeople might not have ever known that they could forgive a person who committed such a terrible crime.
Hester lived an important life, for her and her townspeople. She raised a wonderful daughter, became an important seamstress, and served an example for the rest of her community. It is a good thing that Hester was able to live her life to the fullest, because it showed the stuck up townspeople that not everybody was perfect.