FREE ESSAY ON HOW THE LETTER A AFFECTED VARIOUS CHARACTERS IN THE SCARLET LETTER

HOW THE LETTER A AFFECTED VARIOUS CHARACTERS IN THE SCARLET LETTER

The letter A affected many characters in Nathaniel's classic, The Scarlet Letter. It 
affected not only the main characters of the story, but also of the townspeople who
would
see this letter embroidered on Heater's dress on a daily basis; and thus it would serve
to 
re-enforce their own repulsion at the woman and her sin, and would inflate their 
self-righteousness further. The puritans seemed on the surface to be religious and pious,

but I felt they were extremely judgmental and unforgiving, who found joy in other 
people's lapses in their faith. 
However, this letter affected greatly the lives of Heater, her daughter Pearl, and
Pearl's 
father, the reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. In the story, Arthur Dimmesdale is a young
eminent minister in Boston and also the father of Pearl. He is a tortured man who over
the
course of this story spanning seven years, suffers guilt at his sin of adultery and
having to
watch Heater being shunned and living in isolation, raising the product of their sin
alone. 
He constantly places his hand over his hearth when agitated, which to me symbolized the 
letter A not only embroidered on his lover's gown, but seemingly embroidered over his
own heart. His health is quite bad, and ironically, it is thanks to Roger
Chillingworth's
(Heater's husband) potions that he is able to stay alive. When Chillingsworth earns a
reputation of being a good physicians, he helps maintain Dimmesdale's health but
discovers what Dimmesdale's identity, and thus begins torturing and intending to kill
this
young minister already ravaged by his sin, deteriorating every time he sees the "A" that
has become a part of Heater. By chapter 11, his guilt has reached it peak, as Hawthorne
writes It is inconceivable, the agony with which this public veneration tortured him!
Itwas his genuine impulse to adore the truth, and to reckon all things shadow-like, and
utterly devoid of weight or value, that had not its divine essence as life within their
life.
(page 124)
At the end of the story, he finally admits to being Pearl's father and reveals that he
has
a scarlet letter branded into his own flesh . The times Heater was placed on the 
scaffold and publicly denounced for her sin, she faced this alone. Dimmsdale suffered 
through this, too frightened and ashamed to admit his own responsibility. Dimmesdale 
ascended the scaffold times before, but not in the sight of the public. In the
end,Dimmesdale climbed the scaffold because his heart and his morale would no longer
allow him to remain 
in secret with his sanity. Dimmesdale dies upon the scaffold while holding Ester's hand,

and when Pearl Kisses her father at the end of the story, to me this represents her
destroying 
the bitter pall this simple letter had over their lives. "Pearl kissed his lips. A spell
was 
broken. The great scene of grief in which the wild infant bore a part had developed all
her 
sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her father's cheek, they were the pledge that she
would 
grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor for every do battle with the world, but be a 
woman in it. Toward her mother too, Pearls errand as a messenger of anguish was all 
fulfilled". (P. 226)
Pearls life was also affected by the letter A, as she was the product of the adultery,
and 
the reminder to the town of the parent's sin. She stands on the scaffold facing the town
with 
her mother as an infant, and with her face pressed against the scarlet A, it seems she is

branded from that moment on. She grows up to be a very wild and undisciplined child, 
perhaps because she is aware of the circumstances of her birth, and the 
fact they have no contact with the outside world, living in isolation outside of the
town. 
Pearl is punished from birth becoming a true innocent victim of circumstance. This
letter
A 
has caused Pearl to live in isolation away from other children, Pearl is characterized as
a 
living version of the scarlet letter. She constantly causes her mother and Dimmesdale 
torment and anguish throughout the novel. Pearl is described as extremely beautiful, but

lacking certain Christian qualities. It is ironic that after Arthur Dimmesdale dies,
Pearl 
becomes a normal child and eventually marries. It is almost that kiss she gives to her 
father not only frees his soul, but frees her to live the normal life she deserves as
well. It is 
also sad that the burden Pearl bore during her childhood is that she is actually her
father's 
conscience. What is also symbolic in this book, is that three times in this book, Pearls
begs 
her father to publicly announce he is her father, yet three times she is denied Wilt
thou
stand 
here with my mother and me, to-morrow noontide?( p.133) Not then, Pearl, but another 
time. At the great judgment day! (p.133). At Dimmesdale's death, the scarlet letter
looses 
its control over her and her mother.
Hester was also a victim of the this letter A. She is young woman who seems to have 
much spirit and is strong in her own individuality, which goes against the puritan way. 
What was sad was the fact that when she committed this indiscretion, she truly believed
her 
husband was dead. And when publicly accused of this sin that obviously involves two 
people, she bravely accepts full responsibility, and it is then the letter A seemed to be
a
badge 
of courage for her. When pressured by Mr. Wilson to reveal the father of the child in her

arms, she responds, looking in fact into the baby's father's eyes, Never! It is too
deeply 
branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine.

…I will not speak (p. 57). She also states her child will not know her true father,
stating 
"my child must seek a heavenly father, she will never know an earthly one." 
The letter itself is a bright red color, sewn with gold thread, a rather elegant letter
which 
further goes against the puritan way. It becomes a part of Hester, and who she is; one
who 
will protect the lover who had brought her happiness for a time, yet who has destroyed
her 
integrity and her reputation in the eyes of her town. The cloth letter A that begins its
own 
destiny at the breast of Hester Prynne, becomes a soft rest for her baby's face, and
that
same 
letter ends up etched on the chest of her lover, entwining all of their lives, and yet in
the
end, 
by Esther, Pearl and Dimmesdale embracing and accepting this letter as becoming a part of

them, it makes them a tragic family of sorts, and it frees them.
Bibliography
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter.