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Scarlet Letter Response Essay

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The Scarlet Letter While the book, The Scarlet Letter, was set in the 15th century, it still contained many lessons that can be put to use in today’s society. In the Puritan community, individualism is discouraged and even punished. If one doesn’t live to the high moral standards, they will become outcasts of the community. Hester Prynne committed the sin of adultery and her life suffered greatly because of it. Sadly, in the modern world, adultery is considered the norm and isn’t scrutinized like it used to be. While Hester lived in a completely different world than I did, we still share basic similarities and both believe that we shouldn’t be treated differently because of our flaws and imperfections.
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hester …show more content…

I don’t know why I was anxious because in reality, my letter was self-explanatory and decorated to match with the adjective. Also, the letter C couldn’t stand for anything else except for creative because most people knew I wasn’t “cool” or any other adjective like that. I wasn’t treated differently because everyone guessed the meaning of my letter correctly. I felt different throughout the day because I didn’t like when the younger kids would look at me weirdly and wonder why I had a letter hanging from my neck. Wearing the letter was significant because it made me think how Hester would’ve felt wearing her letter all day. However, instead of wearing it for one day, Hester had to wear hers for the rest of her life and bore a negative trait instead of a positive one. From this assignment, I gained a new perspective on how others thought of me compared to how I thought of myself. For example, others assume that I’m quiet because I don’t talk that much in school. Outside of school, I love to talk to my friends and family members. This assignment also reminded me of the theme of The Scarlet Letter, “Be true!” Like Hester was true to herself by wearing her sin on her chest, I should be true to myself and wear my true personality with pride. I shouldn’t hide the real me from others just because I’m afraid of how others would judge

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