In AP United State History we have been learning about how a few year after the American Revolution, when American gained their independence from England, people were trying to create an American identity for themselves, by how they lived, what they did, and how they were perceived. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Pyrnne is trying to find her identity also, both for herself and for the society she lives in.
When Hester was embarrassed and punished by having to wear the horrid, red letter A on her dress, people in society saw her as disguising, sinful, and an embarrassment to God, and they wanted everyone to know how bad she had been. Although Hester could have left her society she was living in and be free from the label "A", she did not want to do so, by doing this she would show weakness, the society would have one against her, and she would be running from her past. Hester, knowing she did wrong, saw the beauty in her past, with her daughter, Pearl, she received from her actions and she did not want her community to make her feel guilty for this. Instead of running away, at first, Hester stayed in Boston and lived with her past.
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