Scarlet Letter 1

Hester allows her personality and feelings about her punishment to shine by embroidering the A on her clothes so elaborately. She is showing the towns people that they cannot break her spirit,"(the letter) seemed to express the attitude of her spirit, the desperate recklessness of her mood by its wild and picturesque peculiarity"(51). The town wants her to be gloomy and dull, just like it is, but Hester refuses. The town is judging her, but she acts as though she could care less. She chooses to not only acknowledge the wrath of the people, but embrace it. Through this defiant character, the author portrays a sense of nonconformity. Most would have hung their heads, but Hester displays her elaborate letter. The author is showing that she refuses to be brought down, even in the face of societal wrath. The A does not stand for adultery, it stands for Hester's ability to persevere. Her sins have not directly impacted the people, yet they say "They should have put the brand of iron on Hester Prynne's forehead"(49). Hawthorne forces the reader to reflect on modern society and see that not too much has changed, people still socially persecute those who have done them no wrong. Hester was supposed to be an example of shame, but through the strategic use of her punishment, she has become an example of nonconformity and defiance.