Distortion in the Scarlet Letter

It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.""(P.61) This line also helps to show that this letter seems to take on an appearance of an otherworldly thing. This object having the effect of a spell shows that people were practically mesmerized by the letter itself. Hawthorne creates this distortion of the appearance of the letter in order to show the reader that the letter itself is something to marvel at, where as her actions were very sinful of those days and are still looked down upon today. Hawthorne also uses the Scarlet Letter to show how boring and dull the people of this time were; here on the scaffold was a good-looking young lady with a striking and stunning letter that is very much different then the clothing of the day. This lady is surrounded by people who are both ugly physically and mentally. They almost seem to be jealous of Hester Prynne's beauty. When Pearl is looking at Gov. Bellingham armor, all she can see is the letter. She can't see her own mother and this adds to the idea that the letter is bigger then life.
             The meaning of the Scarlet Letter is also something that gets distorted throughout the book. In the beginning of the book the "A- stands for adultery which is not something to be proud of. People view this lady with the "A- as being evil and just not a good Puritan person. When Hester is going to go up the scaffolding it says that " her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token however, she wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and glance that would not be abashed.""(P.60) This line shows that Hester herself was ashamed for what she had done.