The scarlet letter was a stigma worn by someone who had committed a sinful act many Puritan settlements. The Puritans believed that public humiliation was a just punishment for these offenders. ... It had the effect of a spell- (p. 54) As the Puritans tried to disgrace Hester, she turned the symbol around into something special. ... Both the governor's servant, and the Native Americans at the Election Day pageant, thought it was a mark of significant importance and status. ... Right from the beginning Hawthorne hints at the fact that many of the Puritan ideas very hypocritical. ...

• Word Count: 843
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Although Hester is one with a great sin, according to the Puritan society she lives in, she also shows the truth these situation because she is letting the people recognize her sin and acknowledge it. ... In this scene, he goes to the scaffold after his election day sermon and asks Hester and Pearl to join him because he is so weak that he can barely support himself. ... Even in certain passages of the novel, she is shown as being ahead of her times, being born to early is this puritan society. ... The Puritan society in which the characters live in do their own part to show or hide the tru...

• Word Count: 623
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Arthur Dimmesdale: a modern man caught within the realm of the puritans. ... Is it possible to attain forgiveness in a Puritan society after committing such a heinous sin? Forgiveness is always a possibility in my eyes, though the puritans see black and white. ... A punishment suitable for such a sin is already been instituted since the day it happened. ... "Then flinging the already written pages of the Election Sermon into the fire- (pg 154) The final realization that he must admit to his sin to the public. ...

• Word Count: 1115
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Metaphor A beautiful puritan woman full of strong passions, Hester Prynne is the main character in the story. ... It is highly ornate and a contrast to the somber dress of the Puritan settlement. ... * Mistress Hibbens notices Dimmesdale's changed appearance before the Election Sermon and comments onYou look different - almost like a different man - when Hester and you met secretly in the forest.? ... Similarly, at the end of the novel, Dimmesdale confess his sin in the light of day for all to see. ...

• Word Count: 1015
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School