Scarlet Letter Essay

Submitted By tyannavanlenten
Words: 831
Pages: 4

Hester Prynne may come off as a unrepentant, careless mother in the book "The Scarlet Letter". Many readers find her arogant but Hester is misunderstood and judged by the others. Hester Prynne is a good mother to her daughter Pearl. Hawthorne makes Hester an underdog in the book, which puts a target on her back when she sins. She is loving towards her daughter and considers her a treasure. Hester has been through so in the novel because of this sin but she continues to stick by Pearls side. Multiple times in the book Hester proves to be a strong woman and that is exactly what Pearl needs at this point in her life. Hester is a good mother because she looks out for Pearl's future, she knows when to be stern and she is a great role model. Readers may say that Hester uses Pearl for all the wrong reasons, that she does not truely care about her. Some may think that when Hester dolls Pearl up it is to go against society, when really it is that Hester cares about her daughters well-being and apperance. Pearl means way more to Hester than society thinks. "She had named the infant "Pearl", as being of great price,- purchased with all she had, her mothers only treasure!" (81). Hester treasures her daughter, she wants the best for her. Hester has been to Hell and back in the novel. She was automatically labeled by her peers for commiting adultery. It seemed as if Hester had no supporters and was dealing with this on her own, all while trying to be a mother to Pearl. "Throughout them all, giving up her individuality, she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman's frailty and sinful passion. Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin. And over her grave, the infamy that she must carry thither would be her only monument" (73). Hester becomes an example to all young women of what not to do. Even though she is the joke of the town, she continues to be there for Pearl. She is by her side from the very beginning. Hester tries to ignore the negative comments from her peers because she wants to raise her daughter no matter what. She is there for Pearl even when no one is there for her. To the Puritans, Hester may have been considered a coward or weak. Little do they know how much strength it takes to be in her position. To constantly be judged, talked about, hated. Yet Hester carried herself with such grace, even if it did not come off that way. " The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her, —so much power to do, and power to sympathize, —that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was