the town and the way she looked herself. Hester lived on the outskirts of town and was no longer a real part of the community, because of this she was able to see people from a different point of view. “The scarlet letter had endowed her with a new sense. She shuddered to believe that it gave her a sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts.” (Pg 89) Also Hester’s appearance changed. Living away from the Puritan society and the constant presence of the scarlet letter caused this. Hester was once a “young woman with a figure of perfect elegance and dark abundant hair and a face so beautiful.” (Pg 60) The effect of the symbol caused “ all the light and graceful foliage of her character to whither up by this red-hot brand.” (Pg 157) She changed form an attractive person to a harsh repulsive figure.At the end of the novel, Hester was no longer completely ashamed of her letter “A” but actually had some pride in wearing it. The scarlet letter was given to Hester as a form of punishment for her sin and caused extreme embarrassment. “Continually did she fell the innumerable throbs of anguish that had been so convincingly contrived for her by the undying, the ever active sentence of the Puritan tribunal.” (Pg 88) Though embarrassed, Hester still did good things and ended up wearing the letter with pride. “Such helpfulness was found in her that many people refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original signification. They said that it meant “Able.” (Pg 156) Hester could go into town without people looking at her as though she were evil.Being branded with the scarlet letter allowed Hester to change in many ways, most of which led her to become a better person. The scarlet A permitted Hester to leave the conformity of the Puritan community and form her own perspectives and opinions. The larger idea presented to us by H...
