The Power of Judgement in The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawethorne

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Recommended: A modern interpretation of the scarlet letter

As life goes on the personalities of individuals tend to diminish by the power of judgment. For the sake of a metaphor, judgment is the sugar eating at the teeth, what changes the personality. Those who are proud, brush their teeth; so that the sugar doesn’t dissolve their teeth, so that they do not change. As for me, I only brush my teeth once a day; I wake up and go through most my day with a dirty mouth and come home with shiny teeth. Unfortunately, I do not brush my teeth properly every morning and; therefore I am not protected from the dangers of sugar. And when I am unprotected I can’t seem to express myself to the fullest as I would when I am protected. Every morning I lose my toothbrush and it is not found till after wards. However, when I do have my toothbrush my teeth are clean, then there are no worries that my teeth will dissolve and; therefore I walk tall with shiny teeth. Similarly, Hester Prynne, in the book The Scarlet Letter had a sense of pride whenever she wore the scarlet letter. Even though the scarlet letter represented the crime she committed, and even though its sole purpose was to bring shame upon her; she instead embraced it and used it to enhance her pride. Like my tooth brush, Hester’s scarlet letter represents her pride and her courage against judgment. And unlike my tooth brush, Hester had the scarlet letter wherever she went; she did not hesitate to wear it when she made her trips to town, nor did she care what the townspeople thought of her. She had no worries or troubles of what others thought; for that she had pride in herself, which allowed her to keep smiling and fighting trough life.

In truth there is no beneficiary purpose to give into judgment, but there is all the purpose to give in...

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...rising/Life is full of compromising” (Friend Tony 4). Hester throughout this reading makes many compromises; from turning the scarlet letter into that which represented her character, and by accepting her past life. Moreover, her understanding that her past sins are part of who she is, but also understanding that they don’t have to represent her.

And it is this power of accepting and enduring her sins that the power of the scarlet letter brings. A symbol meant to signify her hideous crimes but instead a sign of identity of her own true personality. A letter that can symbolize an entire life, past crimes, and what brings the encouragement to not deny who you really are, and to be proud of yourself.

Works Cited

Friend, Tony. Another Day. Modestep. Josh Friend, 2013. CD.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003. Print.

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