Hester's Hardships

Imagine this, you commit a crime that you do not consider to be a sort of wrongdoing. Since you have committed this crime, every piece of clothing you own is branded with the letter of the crime you committed for the rest of your life. There is no turning back now; you can't fix what you have done. Everyone, everywhere is going to know exactly what you have done and exactly when you did it. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne's personality and lifestyle change drastically due to the crime she commits and because of Puritanical punishment.
Hester Prynne's personality changes immediately, due to the laws of Puritanical punishment. Considering the fact that she has to walk around the town forever with an "A" on the front of her clothing, she becomes a totally different woman. Hester is never going to live down the cruel treatment she gets from the townspeople since she committed adultery.
"At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madam
Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she,-- the naughty baggage,-- little will she
care what they put upon the bodice of her gown! Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch,
or such like the heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!"
This proves what the townspeople think of Hester and the punishment she deserves. She has been given the punishment of walking around with this letter attached to her forever, and they believe that it is not enough for everyone to know and see. Hester walks with pride no matter what she looks like or what people say about her. She is living her life the way she wants to live it with Pearl.
The punishment she has been given has made Hester begin to worry what Pearl thinks of her. Hester's personality carries her to no longer care about others and what they believe of her. Pearl is her only concern and Hester would like for things to stay this way. Hester does worry that Pearl will begin to look down on her because of the scarlet letter.
"Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. it runs away and hides itself, because
it is afraid of something on you bosom...It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom
yet!" "Nor ever will, my child, I hope," said Hester. "And why not, mother?" asked Pearl, stopping
short..."Will it not come of its own accord, what I am a woman grown?"
Pearl is worrying that she will experience the treatment her mother is going through now when she gets older. She wonders if her life will be just like her mother's; if everyone is going to look down on her, if everyone is going to talk about her, and if the sun is not going to shine on her. Hester does not want her hardships to follow Pearl as she grows older.
Along with Hester's personality changing very rapidly, so does her lifestyle. The lifestyle that Hester once lived was taken from her very quickly. Hester now has a child on her hands because of the crime she commits. She now must wise up and take on the responsibilities of having a child, which she does. She must do things to support her child and herself. She is a seamstress and helps anyone else out when she gets the chance. By her helping others out and always being there to lend a hand, the meaning of the "A" changes. The letter once standing for adultery now is the significance of being able.
"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 Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength."
Hester never tries to hide the A from being revealed. It was if that the A is what you resembled Hester to, and she was not ashamed of it one bit. She changes the meaning of the scarlet letter by not even realizing it. Hester does all she has to do to make it through the hardships she faces. She is a good woman who gives everything her best and never lets anyone bring her down.
In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne's personality and lifestyle changes very drastically due to the Puritans way of punishing people. She had to fight her way through to make it. Hester's way of life changes completely when she commits the crime. She gets through it without any doubts and without fighting off her own punishment. Hester Prynne lives quite a cruel, diminishing life and was never troubled by it. Hawthrorne made Hester this way to show how troubling life can really be. Hester shows the significance of being different than others and not letting others thoughts and feelings get to you. Everyone needs to be different and no one should try to act like someone they are not. Be yourself!