The Scarlet Letter

Lauren Scheunemann

Mr. Krueger

Adv. U.S. Lit. 11A

6 October 2014

The Scarlet Letter take home test

The first piece of evidence helps to justify and the thesis statement by showing that despite her being an outcast due to her A, it only made her a stronger and more sufficient person by taking care of Pearl the best she could and finding food for the both of them. She is motivated by the fact that she has a purpose for living and a reason to stay close to the town due to the fact that she is such a good sewer. If she wasn’t such a good sewer and sew clothes for the wealthy, she would not have as much pride in her letter or her daughter because she wouldn’t have another way of showing them off like she does with the extravagant clothing. Also, this piece of evidence shows that Hester was not ashamed of the letter due to the fact that she "curiously embroidered" (34) it. She seemingly put a lot of effort and time into making it and her skill could be shown off in the letter, having been something that the richer women would have added to their clothing in order to make it more appealing or fancier. With this, it shows Hester had no shame in her punishment and she was very proud to display it like the “dames of the court” are proud to show off their clothing, she is showing it off saying that it’s who she is and it’s a part of her. We can also see this in what she dressed Pearl in. “The child's attire, on the other hand, was distinguished by a fanciful, or, we might rather say, a fantastic ingenuity, which served, indeed, to heighten the airy charm that eagerly began to develop itself in the little girl.” (63). This shows that Hester shows off her daughter, like the letter A, and is proud of her. Since Hester was not ashamed to wear this, and she didn't isolate herself or give up on her life and her child, the letter was not an effective punishment to give to her.

The second piece of evidence helps justify the part of the thesis is which the townspeople find the punishment successful because this quote explains how emotionally and physically drained Hester is from having the guilt of what she did in her mind. Because of what she did and knowing that everyone knew, her mind like the “labyrinth without a clew”, meaning she was lost in the maze of her mind winding deep and dark around huge mountains and chasms to never be found again due to the fact she has no way to find her way out because she doesn’t have a “clew”, the ball of yarn to trace her way back. This is scary and terrifying to her and she has no comfort to help her through. She had doubts that she should first send Pearl to heaven and wait for whatever fate left to her, meaning she didn’t want to hold Pearl back and have to suffer everything that she has to go threw since she made her suffer her whole life as an outcast and as the Devil’s child. The letter A itself did not affect Hester, it was the symbology (this is a word I looked it up) behind it that deteriorated who she was as a person and member of society.

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