Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the protagonist, Hester Prynne, finds herself transforming from a state of societal ignorance to that of enlightenment. Her reformation is due mainly to an act considered sinful in the eyes of Puritan law: adultery. Her punishment to wear the letter A upon her chest for the remainder of her days is a way for the colony to make an example of her as a sinner. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores the way in which the colonies intentions of the scarlet letter have failed. Hester Prynne emerges from the weight of the letter to become a woman that realizes her position in society and the unjustness that follows her sex. Through Hester’s physical appearance, personal touch of the letter on her dress, and internal thoughts externalized by Hawthorne, the punishment of the scarlet letter has changed into an awakening for Hester.
The intentions of the colony by condemning her to a lifetime of wearing the letter A upon her chest is cle...