Nubakht 1
Parisa Nubakht
S1436406
Dr. 't Hart
Literature 3A: American Literature
10 November 2014
Hester Prynne the Symbol of Non-conformism and Self-reliance
In his essay Self-Reliance, Emerson emphasizes the importance of individualism and self-reliance rather than surrendering to the standards of society. He believes that trusting ' 'other people 's judgment is cowardly ' ' (Self-Reliance 14) and instead, he emphasizes the value of acting independently. "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think ' ' (17). Henry David Thoreau agrees as he states "A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority" (Walden 324). The ideas of both Emerson and Thoreau apply to Hester Prynne, the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorn’s Scarlet
Letter, since she is a self-reliant and strong character. Despite being banished by society for committing adultery, Hester grows stronger and survives in a Puritan society as a result of believing in and relying on herself.
Hester refuses to conform to the standards of the society and remains courageous and self-dependent. Even though she has been reprimanded by the society for being adulterous, Hester goes through her shame and embarrassment and transforms to a better person. Because she dares to break the rules of Puritan society and accepts the sin as part of herself, Hester can be considered a symbol of self-reliance and non-conformism.
Nubakht 2
When Hester comes out of the prison to stand on the scaffold in order to