Free College Essays - Symbols of Her Crime in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Scarlet Letter - Two Symbols of Her nuisance It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge, calmly replied Hester. Were I praiseworthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport. (163) Hester Prynne, the central use in the Scarlet Letter, realizes and accepts the consequences of the adulterous act she committed against her husband, Roger Chillingworth, as Hawthorne shows in this quotation. Hester, through out(p) the book, excludes and humbles herself because of her crime, rather than simply running away. At the same time, she advertises her ungodliness through the brilliantly embroidered A and through her daughter, Pearl, born out of this sin. Hester realizes that she hence sinned in committing adultery, and, being the strong individual that she is, accepts the consequences of her actions. In fact, much of the woefulness incurred from Hesters sin results from her ow n actions. She, by her own choice, wears humble, dismal costume she moves to the outskirts of her town, but refuses to run away to a place where no nonpareil knows of her crime she excludes herself from society, while society does not always exclude her. quite of escaping her crime, Hester embraces it. She declares, It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge... Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport, realizing the crime she committed and the blondness of her punishmentthe scarlet garner (163). Hester goes so far as to hover upon the letter as a symbol of her guilt. The brilliant crimson A resides on her humbly clothed chest, making the letter stand out all the more Pearl, the child of sin, runs beside her mother, dressed in spectacular change state abundantly embroidered with fantasies and flourishes of gold thread, in effect, personifying that sam e symbol (102). In for each one case, Hester advertises the fact that she has sinned and that she is paying for her crime, again bring more suffering upon herself. And again, she accepts it. She realizes the letter should only be removed when she is no longer guilty of her crime. She knows, therefore, that mean solar day will never come. Society, however, thinks differently.