The Strength of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

Reading the Scarlet Letter reminds me of wiz of my own experience. When I was a fifth grade elementary student, two of my friends and I agree to cheat on a geography test. On the day of the test, one of my friends was caught. The teacher found the cheat sheet where it showed the handwriting of the three of us. When he was asked who the other two is, he remained silent. The teacher said that he bequeath be punished, standing in the corner of the classroom for one uncoiled week, and it result be lighter if only he told our name. My friend mute did not say a word, so he received the punishment. What he did was similar to what Hester Prynne does. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is portrayed as a woman with remarkable strength of character through direct and indirect characterization. As a punishment for her crime of adultery, Hester must wear reddened letter ?A? for the rest of her life. We hindquarters see her strength when she bravely faces humilia tion on the scaffold. When grand Dimmesdale asks her about the identity of the child?s father, she remains silent, although she was told that her punishment might be lighter if she confesses (Hawthorne 62). iodin shadow see that she loves the person so much that she sacrifices her own freedom in exchange of the his. After trying to persuade Hester to talk with no success, R constantlyend Dimmesdale says ?Wondrous strength and benevolence of a woman?s knocker She will not speak? (63). Hester does show a wondrous generosity in this chapter. Even though she realizes that her punishment will be lighter, and she will have someone to share the punishment with, she still remains silent. One of the townsmen also admired her strength, saying how ?she does not speak, that the magistrates have laid their doubt in vain? (57). Hester does not speak at all cost. We can see the strength of Hester?s character through the thoughts, words, actions, and what the other?s impressions on her.We ca n also see her characterization through the occasion?s direct statement. When she shows her face to the public for the first time she since she was punished, the author commented that the people who expect to see her ?dimmed and obscured by a fateful cloud?, find her more gorgeous, graceful and ladylike than she have ever been instead (49).