Identity theme in Scarlet letter
Sydney Chatfield
“Character”
Josh Billings said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” The word character can be defined as the features and traits that form the individual nature of someone or also known as their identity. The main character Hester is the person who struggles the most with the idea of character. The word character is essential to the novel in describing the main theme of identity to the audience. The scarlet letter is a defining moment in Hester’s life where she is faced with the dilemma of letting society decide her character or for her to determine her own. A significant moment in the book was when Hester decided not to leave Boston after being publicly humiliated and forced to wear the badge of shame. Hester was given the chance to leave Boston and lead a normal life somewhere else without wearing the scarlet letter, but she chose not to. Hester even scoffs when Chillingworth suggests that the town father’s were considering letting her remove the letter. Hester believes that removing the letter or running away would only show society the control they have over her. Hester desired to determine her own identity. She wanted to show that the letter was not a mark of shame she was trying to escape, but a symbol of the person she had been made into because of it. Hester showed throughout the book how she changed the scarlet letter to represent her experiences and her true character. An important quote that shows these ideas is, “The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers-stern, and wild ones,-and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne 180). The meaning of the scarlet letter changes all the way through the book from meaning Adultery to Able because of Hester’s character. Her past crime is part of her and for her to deny what she had already done would be denying apart of herself.
“Character”
Josh Billings said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” The word character can be defined as the features and traits that form the individual nature of someone or also known as their identity. The main character Hester is the person who struggles the most with the idea of character. The word character is essential to the novel in describing the main theme of identity to the audience. The scarlet letter is a defining moment in Hester’s life where she is faced with the dilemma of letting society decide her character or for her to determine her own. A significant moment in the book was when Hester decided not to leave Boston after being publicly humiliated and forced to wear the badge of shame. Hester was given the chance to leave Boston and lead a normal life somewhere else without wearing the scarlet letter, but she chose not to. Hester even scoffs when Chillingworth suggests that the town father’s were considering letting her remove the letter. Hester believes that removing the letter or running away would only show society the control they have over her. Hester desired to determine her own identity. She wanted to show that the letter was not a mark of shame she was trying to escape, but a symbol of the person she had been made into because of it. Hester showed throughout the book how she changed the scarlet letter to represent her experiences and her true character. An important quote that shows these ideas is, “The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers-stern, and wild ones,-and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne 180). The meaning of the scarlet letter changes all the way through the book from meaning Adultery to Able because of Hester’s character. Her past crime is part of her and for her to deny what she had already done would be denying apart of herself.