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Being An Outsiders In The Scarlet Letter

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Not belonging is the greatest fear for most but some people thrive when they are alone but others drive themselves crazy being alone. The experience of being an outsider isn't universal due to varying amounts of psychological strength people possess. When it comes to the idea of being an outsider that is all that it is an idea that is placed in your mind by others or yourself causing some to feel left out but others to flourish. Often people that are outsiders all they want is to be able to conform to society often losing who they are in the process. There are people though that don’t want to belong they believe that what makes them different really just makes them stronger and that they don’t need a mold to fit into because they make their …show more content…

This can cause some people to flourish due to their immense psychological strength that they possess. Throughout the story of the Scarlet letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this is shown through the character of Hester Prine, she was given a scarlet A that was placed on the Bosom of her dress due to her having a baby with another man. This symbol heald pain for her but to others, it was a sign of shame but slowly throughout the book, Hester became stronger and stronger until the letter began to mean able or even angle to the people around her. This is just one example of people that have thrived because of their great amount of strength Hester was able to persuade the others to see her as someone who wasn't just an adulteress but someone who was able to succeed and break the form. “Students mocked Tim Gunn’s love making things; now, he is a fashion icon with the recognizable catchphrase “Make it work” (Robbins 225). People that are held on this silver pedestal above us that we all want to be such as celebrity Tim Gunn’s often have endured the pain of not belonging. “J.K. Rowling, author of the bestselling “Harry Potter” series, has described herself as a bullied child “who lived mostly in books and daydreams” (Robbins 225). Just because we now view people to be amazing doesn't mean that at one point in time they had to endure the pain of their ideas being rejected. Some people take the pain of being an outsider and turn it into motivation such as the stories stated above, but due to the lack of psychological strength others

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This aphorism, much like what one could find in a fable, uses sage advice to connect the reader personally with the story. Aphorisms in general, and this in particular, offers universal truth independent of context. Many passages in The Scarlet Letter, set hundreds of years in the past, can be easily related to modern day, but rarely are they directly applicable. The aphorism serves to remind the reader that while Hester Prynne’s story may or may not be true, it is not entirely based in fiction.

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Symbolism Within The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne created symbolism throughout The Scarlet Letter in order to develop the theme throughout Hester’s life. Hester is portrayed as a sheltered soul, shunned from society due to her adulterous acts. The red A and her daughter, Pearl, are symbols of Hester’s shame which she bares proudly despite society's harsh judgements. Hawthorne is able to use symbolism to develop themes, characters, and analogies in the Scarlet Letter.

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The exploration of societal pressures. Life can be separated into two equal parts totally independent from one another. The inner self, being the innermost thoughts and feelings of the individual, and the outer self, how the individual decides to conduct itself around the others in society. Often times one of these parts takes control of the other, suppressing its partner. The suppression is often not of equal frequency because of the obligation humans feel to be liked and to fit in causes the outermost self to be given the most thought and worry.

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The Scarlet letter is the perfect example of the American Romantic Era, celebrating the beauty and the power of the natural world. Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale’s daughter who was born because of their affair is the Romantic Ideal of a capacity for wonder and consequently a reverence for the freshness and innocence of childhood vision. Pearl was looked at as somewhat of an outcast, mainly because everyone was a Puritan and anyone that knows understands that Puritans are people that are very Orthodoxic with very censored moral beliefs especially about pleasure and sex, therefore the fact that Pearl was not only born out of wedlock, but her mother’s known husband was not her biological father, all those factors did not sit very well with the locals. Pearl was a symbol of her mother’s shameful act, the narrator at some point refers to Pearl as “The scarlet letter endowed with life” because just like the letter A pinned on Hester’s chest “Pearl was the public consequence of Hester’s very private sin”. Dimmesdale

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Should Public Humiliation Be Used As A Punishment For Crime? In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses public humiliation to shame a puritan women named Hester Prynne for her sin of adultery. To punish her for her sin, the puritan officials of the community force her to wear a scarlet letter “A” upon her chest to publicly shame her and so that everyone in the community can mock her for her sin. Public humiliation is still used by people and by the government in some ways as a punishment.

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It’s Not Universal Humans are social beings and, typically, we prefer to surround ourselves with similar types of people. Often times, this means excluding others and even outcasting them from society. Nearly everybody has experienced being an outsider. whether it was not knowing anyone at a new school to not having the “must have” item that everyone else seemingly had. The experience of being an outsider is not universal because the feelings associated with being outcast are circumstantial, people react differently, and people have varying degrees of introversion.

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We are all sinners. Although one may try hard not to sin, all humans eventually succumb at some time or another to sin. While people may not able to avoid the fate which awaits them, the power of free will allows people to decide how they will respond to sin. While some may respond with guilt and regret, others may react with a sense of redemption and a renewed sense of responsibility. Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community.

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At just a glance at the back cover of The Scarlet Letter, a reader is immediately aware of the plot and the Puritan setting. If a reader receives some background knowledge, he or she learns that being apart of the community back then was not an easy task. With its harsh regulations, and strict, unlawful punishments, it is no wonder a citizen of this society would not act out of the Puritan lifestyle. In just the first couple of pages after they say Hester, Hawthorne describes the females of the community like evil villains from a Disney movie. When Prynne was initially exposed to the public, the women attacked her with criticism for she carried the beloved scarlet letter on her bosom as a sign of adultery.

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The place of isolation can become the place of revelation. The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne's life after having a child, Pearl, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth, was away and having to live with an A on her chest for adultery. The father of the child, Arthur Dimmesdale, had to live with the guilt and beat himself because of it and the truth remained a secret to almost everyone, except Chillingworth, who planned to get revenge on him because of his sin. Chillingworth became evil and changed because he wanted revenge on Dimmesdale and the guilt made Dimmesdale feel sick. Dimmesdale died after he told everyone the truth and Pearl gained a sense of compassion when she saw him dying.

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