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Isolation In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, some of the major characters are isolated from the other Puritans and from Puritan society. One of the main characters, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest for committing the sin of adultery. The Puritans during this time period were known as unforgiving and would often judge others for their sins instead of themselves. In the book Hawthorne reveals that Pearl’s true father is the minister Dimmesdale, while everyone else in town thinks it is Hester’s husband who is not in the town. The people in the town shame Hester for her sin and humiliate her in the streets - making her tell what the scarlet letter A represents on her chest. Hester is isolated because of her sin, Dimmesdale is isolated by hiding his sin, and Pearl as well has been isolated because of her parents’ sin.
In the book Hester Prynne has been isolated from the other Puritans around her. She has been forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest for her sin and the people in town shame her. Hester is often stopped in the streets, as shown by a quote in the book. The quote states, “Clergymen paused in the street to address words of exhortation that brought a crowd,” (38.) This however is not the only way Hester is isolated in the book - she chooses to isolate herself even further. She felt as if she …show more content…
Dimmesdale. Due to his hidden sin Mr. Dimmesdale is isolated by hiding it. He does not join Hester and Pearl on the scaffold for public humiliation towards the beginning of the book. He only confessed his secret sin and stood on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl towards the end of the book - when he was dying. Another way Dimmesdale is isolated is how he punishes himself for his sin, as shown by the quote in chapter twelve, “No eye could see him, save that ever-wakeful one which had seen him in his closet wielding the bloody

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