Sarah Ganzenmuller AP Lit Summer Blog Post #2

The Scarlet Letter: Blog 2 

Sarah Ganzenmuller
Wednesday, July 16, 2014

           Motivations/Outcomes of Hester Prynne and its meaning:

Though I was at first tempted to examine and expose Roger Chillingworth's evil characters motives, I realized no matter how in depth one would try to interpret his actions they would find nothing but a cold hearted soul thirsty for revenge. His deformed body mirrors his distorted soul, and he is quite blatantly the antagonist of the story. In contrast to Chillingworth's consistently cruel character, Hester embodies a whole different characterization. Ones who's motives are not necessarily always clear, one who cannot be defined in one way due to her persona being more liquid than solid as she is constantly developing and changing throughout the story. 

           

Hester is described in the first scaffold scene when at trial for committing adultery as a young woman with a "figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, has the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes”(Hawthorne 46). Those who knew her previously who had expected and no doubt hoped out of jealousy to behold her dimmed and obscured by her misfortunes were astonished to find how her beauty shone out of the humiliation in which she was enveloped. Just in this first scene, Hawthorne manages with physical appearance alone to prove Hester different than most. She quite admirably accepts her fate and though ashamed of her sin goes about her dishonor with a sense of pride and dignity. This is verified when she refuses to announce who the perpetrator is, not revealing who she slept with. Despite having nothing to lose and maybe even something to gain from the unveiling of her fellow sinner, as he would prove company in exile, she burdens herself with loneliness and the secret.

       

  While it takes a great deal of courage to bear this kind of exile alone, one might also observe Hester’s refusal to expose Mr. Dimmesdale as an act of submissiveness. As the book takes place in the seventeenth-century puritan Massachusetts when women were considered inferior to men, it is very possible that Hester simply felt while she owed the man who abandoned her the world, while she owed herself nothing. I can’t help but to feel Hester should be infuriated with Mr. Dimmesdale for leaving her to face her sin alone, yet she remains indifferent. In fact, towards the end of the book she even flings herself at the minister’s feet crying, ”Thou shalt forgive me! Let god punish! Thou shalt forgive!” (161) This scene proves to be a shocking revelation to the reality of the situation. Mr. Dimmesdale should have been begging for her forgiveness, yet she begs it of him. This shows how weak she truly is despite the many years of humiliation, which up until this point had convincingly seemed to make her stronger. Her daughter Pearl is of a different nature. Wise beyond her years, and feeling no inferiority to men or anybody for that matter, she refuses to embrace Mr. Dimmesdale until he stands beside her and her mother. While she makes this claim a literal one, it can be taken symbolically as her urging him to confess his sin, and calling him out for not standing beside them sooner. 

 Pearl serves as a beacon of hope, and a light for Hester throughout the story, giving Hester’s tragic life a purpose. Pearls presence directly affects her mother, giving her the strength to carry on with integrity and good nature. In time people forget the sin committed by Hester, and instead they marvel at her many acts of goodwill. The A, standing for Adulterer that is supposed to dishonor Hester soon looses its significance, and even changes for some, “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a women’s strength” (134). Pearls important role in her mother’s determination to do good by others becomes apparent in her response to Mistress Hibbins invitation to join a meeting of witches who praise the devil. Hester replied, “ I must tarry home, and keep watch over my little Pearl. Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man’s book too, and that with mine own blood!”(97) With these words it becomes clear that Hesters motivation is solely her beautiful daughter. Strangely enough, Hester never seems to worry too much about Gods perception of her and though tainted by others judgments is not concerned with impressing the townsfolk. She devotes her time to charity not for herself, not for her reputation, but for Pearl. “Hesters nature showed itself warm and rich; a well-spring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand, and inexhaustible by the largest. Her breast, with its badge of shame, was but the softer pillow for the head that needed one” (133). In the end it is speculated that Pearl lived far from the town she grew up in with a husband and a happy family. Giving Pearl the fairytale ending her mother only dreamt about, Hawthorne makes two points. One is you are not defined by where you come from, even if it is sin. The other being dedication pays off, as Hester’s little Pearl gets everything she could have wanted for her and more.

When Hester grows old, she moves back to New England without Pearl. There she stays until her death. Her ending is a much happier one than that of both Mr. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Those characters tragic outcomes prove as a warning given by Hawthorne to his readers. Revenge leaves you with nothing, and secrets eat you alive. Though I am sure Hester wished her sin wasn’t discovered at the time, this discovery is what ultimately saved her. While Hester claimed, “always this dreadful agony in feeling a human eye upon the token; the spot never grew callous; it seemed, on the contrary, to grow more sensitive with daily torture”(72) this very symbol which inflicted so much pain, is what subsequently saved her soul. Instead of Hester’s sin manifesting itself in deep into her heart, as it did with Mr. Dimmesdale, poisoning him, she felt an outward pain, something more bearable, one much less destructive. Having the ability to prosper through her suffering, Hester becomes something of a legend in the colony of Boston. Even those put into the worst of circumstances can remember her legend and hope to see better days.