Scarlet letter, the
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter" (1850), the story is
told of a young woman, Hester Prynne, who has an adulterous affair and bears a
child out of wedlock. The world in which she lives (Puritan New England) is
staunchly and vehemently opposed to such sin, and treats Hester accordingly. Not
only is she shunned from proper society, as not fit to be spoken to except in
cases of absolute necessity, but by judicial and community decree she is
condemned to wear, embroidered on the breast of her garment, a large scarlet
letter "A" -- which presumably denotes her sin -- that of Adultery. It is
fascinating to observe, as the story develops, how Hester deals with her
"punishment", and how the community deals with her sin, and with Hester herself.
The quoted extract deals with a time some years after the original sin and
punishment, after Hester has spent years living a life of modesty, uprightness,
and devoted service to others less fortunate and in need. Among other things, it
has something profound to say about the overcoming of adversities -- whether
self-inflicted or randomly received.
*****
It was perceived, too, that, while Hester never put forward
even the humblest title to share in the world's privileges -- farther than to
breathe the common air, and earn daily bread for little Pearl [her illegitimate
daughter] and herself by the faithful labor of her hands -- she was quick to
acknowledge her sisterhood with the race of man, whenever benefits were to be
conferred. None so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand
of poverty; even though the bitter-hearted pauper threw back a gibe in requital
of the food brought regularly to his door, or the garments wrought for him by
the fingers that could have embroidered a monarch's robe. None so devoted as
Hester, when pestilence stalked through the town. In all seasons of calamity,
indeed, whether general or of individuals, the outcast of society at once found
her place. She came, not as a guest, but as a rightful inmate, into the
household that was darkened by trouble; as if its gloomy twilight were the only
medium in which she was entitled to hold intercourse with her fellow-creatures.
There glimmered the embroidered letter, with comfort in its unearthly ray.
Elsewhere the token of sin, it was the taper of the sick-chamber. It had even
thrown its gleam, in the sufferer's hard extremity, across the verge of time. It
had shown him where to set his foot, while the light of earth was fast becoming
dim, and ere the light of futurity could reach him. In such emergencies,
Hester's nature showed itself warm and rich; a well-spring of human tenderness,
unfailing to every real demand, and inexhaustible by the largest. Her breast,
with its badge of shame, was but the softer pillow for the head that needed one.
She was self-ordained a Sister of Mercy; or, we may rather say, the world's
heavy hand had so ordained her, when neither the world nor she looked forward to
this result. The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was
found in her -- so much power to do, and power to sympathize -- that many people
refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that
it meant Abel; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength.
It was only the darkened house that could contain her. When
sunshine came again, she was not there. Her shadow had faded across the
threshold. The helpful inmate had departed, without one backward glance to
gather up the meed of gratitude, if any were in the hearts of those whom she had
served so zealously. Meeting them in the street, she never raised her head to
receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger
on the scarlet letter, and passed on. This might be pride, but was so like
humility, that it produced all the softening influence of the latter quality on
the public mind. The public is despotic in its temper; it is capable of denying
common justice, when too strenuously demanded as a right; but quite as
frequently it awards more than justice, when the appeal is made, as despots love
to have it made, entirely to its generosity. Interpreting Hester Prynne's
deportment as an appeal of this nature, society was inclined to show its former
victim a more benign countenance than she cared to be favored with, or,
perchance, than she deserved.
The rulers, and the wise and learned men of the community,
were longer in acknowledging the influence of Hester's good qualities than the
people. The prejudices which they shared in common with the latter were
fortified in themselves by an iron framework of reasoning, that made it a far
tougher labor to expel them. Day by day, nevertheless, their sour and rigid
wrinkles were relaxing into something which, in the due course of years, might
grow to be an expression of almost benevolence. Thus it was with the men of
rank, on whom their eminent position imposed the guardianship of the public
morals. Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne
for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as
the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a
penance, but of her many good deeds since. "Do you see that woman with the
embroidered badge?" they would say to strangers. "It is our Hester -- the town's
own Hester -- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable
to the afflicted!" Then, it is true, the propensity of human nature to tell the
very worst of itself, when embodied in the person of another, would constrain
them to whisper the black scandal of bygone years. It was none the less a fact,
however, that, in the eyes of the very men who spoke thus, the scarlet letter
imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely
amid all peril. Had she fallen among thieves, it would have kept her safe. It
was reported, and believed by many, that an Indian had drawn his arrow against
the badge, and that the missile struck it, but fell harmless to the ground.
(From Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Scarlet Letter").
