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In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel 'The Scarlet Letter', Hester is the perfect example of one who experiences alienation alongside her daughter from the Puritans she lives around. She separates herself from them to work and take care of Pearl. Dealing with the guilt from her grave sin, Hester grows to learn how to cope with a judgmental society, where everyone around her is looking down upon her and her child. There is a noticeable conflict between herself and the community she lives in. Because of this, she is faced with a new reality of overcoming her mistake and living on her own, alienated by the people around her. Interestingly enough, Hester grows from this tragic consequence both physically and emotionally. The Puritans notice the toll alienation has taken on her appearance and behavior, later changing the meaning of her ‘A’ to ‘Able’, representing her strength and perseverance.
Hester Prynne experienced exile as she stepped foot out of prison, where she was cut off from the Puritan community and viewed as one lesser than them. Prynne’s separation from home is of her community because she loses her sense of place there and no one acknowledges her the same way they did before. There is no longer unity between them because of one sin that excludes her from the Puritan community. “Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul” (Hawthorne, 76). She is alienated for not revealing her child’s father, raising Pearl the way she does, and obviously committing adultery. Pearl was the only person in her life keeping her stable and motivated, ironically being the outcome of her sin. This conflict affects Hester because since she refuses to identify the baby’s father, she is now faced with the role of being a single mother. “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life” (Hawthorne, 62). Some show sympathy for her because she’s physically and emotionally living through both her and her baby daddy’s guilt since neither chooses to reveal themselves.
Hester then, accepting what she had done, was a strong independent woman when reflected amongst the other Puritan woman because she was a hardworking single mother doing anything and everything to raise Pearl. As a mother, she was determined to keep Pearl and raise her in a way to be able to teach her a lesson about her great sin. She knew her worth and how much raising Pearl the right way in light of her mistake meant to her. “Mindful, however, of her own errors and misfortunes, she early sought to impose a tender, but strict, control over the infant immortality that was committed to her charge” (Hawthorne, 85). Since it was obvious that the public defined her as an adulterer because of the ‘A’, she wanted to actually make a change through her work as a seamstress. This would show that she was capable of raising her child alone, especially in a puritanical way. As Eaton and Pennell noted, within the novel, the individual minor characters and the community as a whole articulate the strict code by which individuals are expected to live and by which they are judged when they engage in wrongdoing. Also, Hester did not want to be viewed only through the bold scarlet letter imprinted on her chest, because everyone around her thought they were better than her.
Hester’s loneliness and experience of being excluded from the Puritan people brought out something good in her. There was an urge to help those, even though she knew she would always be the woman with the ‘A’ on her chest. She was so humble in the way she carried herself, not getting into trouble and doing her best to be there for Pearl throughout all those years. Hester knew she would never fully be accepted by the people in her town, and even less when the father would have been identified. Once both parents had died, they were not granted the true peace and respect to be buried next to one another. They were buried near each other and the ‘A’ was still marked on their tombstones, revealing that the community was truly never at peace with what they had done. Hester begins by showing charity to those who greet her alms with scornful taunts, but eventually, her competence and generosity win the world’s respect and transform her token of shame into a badge of honor. It is important to realize that Hester did grow from this experience and it did change her life forever. From the very beginning to her standing on the scaffold ashamed, guilty, afraid, and with everyone’s pitiful looks, she knew her life would never be the same. Living through alienation and exile, she learned an important lesson, but so did Pearl and Dimmesdale.
Hester Prynne moved to the outskirts of town to begin her life with Pearl after jail, constantly being judged by those around her. She worked to support her little family and to help distract herself from the sin and pain she had caused herself. No one knew what was going to end up happening to her and her daughter, and just as she was growing and learning, everyone around them noticed the changes happening. Learning to cope with both guilt and loneliness was something that sadly Hester had to go through on her own. The conflict between Hester and the community began when she has broken a rule, committing a sin, which lead to her punishment of alienation and complete separation from the people. Her long journey for forgiveness never came as she lived alone in fear for Pearl’s father who can’t seem to acknowledge her and his child as he is facing Chillingworth. Overall, Hester matures deeply because of this and Pearl grows to obey her, but sadly there was not a fairytale ending as both parents die still living in guilt and not happy together.
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