The Scarlet Letter

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1. 
   amy-lepore Teacher
   High School - 12th Grade

   For one, she has nowhere else to go.  Two, she believes that running would only convince the people further of her guilt, which she does not believe. 

   Later in the novel, her "A" comes to mean more than "adultery"; she proves herself an "able" and productive member of the colony;  an "asset" rather than an embarrassment.

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   http://www.enotes.com/scarlet-letter

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   Posted by amy-lepore on Sunday November 4, 2007 at 12:33 PM
   
   

2. 
   malenig

   There are two reasons that Hawthorne gives for Hester's decision to remain in Boston: 1.) This was the "spot where some great and marked event" gave "color" to her "lifetime."  The most significant events in her life occurred in Boston, and, as Hawthorne says, "The chain that bound her here was of iron links." 2.) In Boston, her lover and father to Pearl remained.  Bound to him by what she considered to be an unbreakable union, Hester could not leave him.

   Hester says that she must work out her penance in Boston since it was the place where she had sinned.  Hawthorne says her reason is a "half-truth" because her desire to remain close to Dimmesdale was foremost in her mind.

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   Posted by malenig on Friday August 8, 2008 at 5:38 AM
   
   

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