To overcome Social Incrimination The Scarlet Letter encaptured people because of the perception of religion’s and society’s role in justice. As in most literature from the 19th century, religion plays a large part in The Scarlet Letter, because Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth are themselves affected by the hand of religion. Society shuns Hester, the scorned woman forced to wear the scarlet letter and placed on a scaffold with her sin-bred child Pearl, publicly humiliated for her act of adultery. The sins committed throughout The Scarlet Letter represent more than acts against God: each of the characters symbolize a sin, their actions and dialogue bringing this symbolism to light. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, …show more content…
Valuable lessons are well learned while living in a state of isolation, whether by choice or force. Hester learns the importance of punishment, family, and public opinion. For Hester, these lessons come frequently and irrationally. After the conviction of adultery, she became an outcast in a town in which she has decided to call home, due to public opinion and a small element of the overall punishment. Living with the guilt both emotionally and physically, she single-handedly raised the offspring that came as a result of her crime and by doing this she learned the importance of family. She found that Pearl gave her hope and forced her to make the best of her situation no matter how difficult. After threats of having the one thing that still meant something to her suddenly taken away Hester still remained strong, one positive outcome of bearing the dreadful “A” for years. She even began to change the meaning of the “A” from adultery to abled. It drove her to be a better person for herself and her daughter. Hester learned the cruelties of the world and people living in it, a lesson not possible without first experiencing isolation. The influence this punishment had on Hester proved more influential than anyone ever imagined. Hester learned how to cope with isolation, and to see past the shallow views of the public for they do not mean much. She learned the importance of family and the ways in which a simple miracle such as the birth of a daughter can affect and influence your life. Hester took a bad situation and turned it into a learning opportunity. She proved her strength to everyone, even herself. Most importantly, she acknowledged and took advantage of the realizations this forced state of isolation brought to