In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the character Hester Prynne demonstrates the two characteristics of resilience and persistence. By being resilient and persistent, Hester has been able to get through many challenges in her life such as: recovering from her time in prison and the scaffold, ignoring the challenging times that have happened in the past, by being loyal to her family and lastly, Hester has maintained with her penance from her sin. Hawthorne suggests that Hester has become a fiercer woman from her sin and that allows her to be resilient and steadfast.
The resilient Hester Prynne stays strong throughout the novel by recovering fast from her time in prison, the shame that she received while she was on the scaffold, and
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Hester committed this sin with her secret lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester acknowledged her sin and took action for it, but Dimmesdale did not which allowed Hester to get stronger but Dimmesdale only became weakened by this sin. Hester Prynne’s persistent is very prominent when she stays loyal to her little daughter, Pearl. Pearl is the consequence of the great sin that is causing Hester problems, these complications are the death wishes and hate she is receiving. Governor Bellingham wishes to take little Pearl away, but Hester stays loyal to her family and pleads to keep her daughter, Hester says, “‘God gave me this child!’ cried she. ‘he gave her requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness! -she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too!’” (109). This love for Pearl that Hester has, has made her loyal to her daughter, she is thinking about revealing who the father is, just to keep Pearl. Hester’s persistence has also come out again when she continues to go on the Scaffold time and time again. Going up to the scaffold with Dimmesdale, at night shows the audience that Hester is staying loyal to her sin that has happened seven years ago and that she has also stayed in love with Dimmesdale through hatred and sickness. Hester stayed dedicated during her penance in the beginning of the novel, she did it without complaining through one of the hardest times of her life. Hester got through this by reliving old memories in her head with her family back home overseas, without these memories of her family she would have been miserable on the scaffold. Hester’s steadfast kept her a static character throughout the novel, it also kept her devoted to her child that caused her so much abhorrence from the