Redemption In Mean Girls And The Scarlet Letter

When repented by society for one’s mistake the individual will undergo a journey of redemption during which they exhibit character change and a gaining of respect from communities that shun them. In Tina Fey’s production Mean Girls and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the characters Cady Heron and Hester Prynne are repented by society for their faulty acts. Hester and Cady undergo a journey of obtaining redemption from their peers during which they gain the respect of their community and change in character/personality within themself. Society castes off Hester Prynne for her sin of adultery. Hester gains redemption from the townspeople through acting philanthropically upon the poor of her town and the government officials that

Before Cady had redeemed herself she taunts her good friend Janis by asking if she is in Love with her ( Fey, 179). So on while speaking to Regina Cady admits to her she feels her public embarrassment and being hit by a bus were her fault (Fey, 185). Cady’s asking of Janis’s love is a tauntful remark made by the morally corrupt version of herself. Character Change is shown in Cady through her apology because she is expressing remorse to a person she had once plotted a downfall for. Essentially expressing character change because when Cady apologizes to Regina, inadvertently expressing moral correctness, she is acting differently than the corrupt girl that had taunted her friend. Before Cady’s leaving “The Plastics” she is plotting Regina’s downfall and says they should feed her “Kalteen Bars”(Fey, 153) so that she becomes gourdly and loses her sex appeal. During Cady’s redeeming of herself she apologizes to her teacher Ms.Norbury for writing of her in the burn book. After Cady redeems herself to the majority of the people she has wronged, she apologizes to Regina expressing that feels her bus accident and public humiliation were her “Fault”(Fey, 188). Cady’s plotting of Regina’s downfall demonstrates the corruptness she manifested before redeeming herself. Through apologizing to her teacher Cady is gaining a version of herself that is more responsible and admitting of faults; character change. Cady’s apology to Regina validates her character change because she acts kindly to a girl she once schemed against, demonstrating a change from being morally corrupt to correct. Before Hester had redeemed herself, Hawthorne describes the facets of Hester’s appearance as “Having dark and abundant hair so glossy” (Hawthorne, 37). After years of redeeming herself Hawthorne describes Hester’s “Rich luxuriant hair as being cut off, or so completely hidden by a cap” (Hawthorne, 112). Hester’s redeeming has caused