Beginning of Essay
The Scarlet Letter, written in the 1800’s by Anti-Transcendentalist Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells the story of Hester Prynne. Young Hester lived in New England, about the same time witch trials were still conducted, and she is found guilty of carrying a baby w ....

Middle of Essay
.... that was stitched on Hester’s chest. In this example, the scarlet letter was a symbol for the entire world to see and ridicule Prynne for her “wrong-doing” This use of public humiliation for Hester was thought to be necessary to punish and teach Prynne a lesson. This puts much focus on the way people harass and torture others simply because they feel other people have done things morally wrong and deserve punishment. While the “wrong-doers” are being punished, the punishers in turn commit wrongs. Here many questions arise. Was it wrong for Hester to keep her child’s father a secret from the public? Was is wr ....