What’s your identity?
Emma Inks
Hester Prynne is a woman who committed a crime and her community will not let her forget it. From the beginning of the book, The Scarlet Letter, the people of Massachusetts Bay determine Hester’s identity for her.
The bold woman, known as Hester Prynne, is publicly shamed and forced to wear the letter “A” on her clothing; everyone knows her as the adulteress. Hester comes from England to Boston for freedom, she is a puritan, along with the others in the town. Many others have migrated over to the new world for mostly the freedom of religion. Back then you were still married no matter what, while Hester was told by the community that her husband, Roger Chillingworth was dead. Hester is punished with jail time for committing adultery. This is when Hester wears the letter “A” on her clothing. Hester thinks of the letter “A” as a strength for her, not a weakness
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Perhaps because she is isolated from the rest of society, she takes her identity as a mother very seriously. Hester has to become an independant woman without her husband; Hester is put in jail, it becomes herself against the whole colony. She needs to move forward for not only herself, but for her daughter, Pearl. Hester had perceived that pearl would be viewed differently by the adults and children of the colony. Hester begins to dress Pearl in beautiful bright-colored clothes. Pearl’s clothes were the color yellow as bright as the sun, and a blue as blue as the sky. Hester made these clothes with her own hands, and heart. Pearl is a resemblance of Hester's passion. While both Pearl and Hester are excluded from the society, they are constant companions. Hester will take Pearl on walks around the colony, and teach her about God. Pearl shows a love of mischief and a disrespect for authority, which frequently reminds Hester of her own sin of passion. After some time, she starts interacting with the community