False Individualism In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

In The Scarlet Letter, a novel by author Nathaniel Hawthorne, rugged individualism is a reoccurring theme with certain characters throughout the text. Rugged individualism expresses the idea of someone doing what is believed to be right for themselves despite the consequences that may be placed on the person or the people around this person. In The Scarlet Letter, there are multiple events in which rugged individualism takes place, but the two characters that show the most rugged individualism throughout the novel are the main character Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth.

Hester Prynne shows rugged individualism early on by breaking Puritan laws by having relations with a man who was not her husband. This was detrimental to her normal