Morality In The Scarlet Letter

The manner in which one obtains their morals and journey through life differs; some establish morals and venture life with observances of fairness, while others endure the tumult to find humanity on their own. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, Hester, a sinful woman, learns to establish a new identity under her branded “A”. Hester develops a new sense of morality, as her story darkens to an end foreshadowed by the symbolic rose bush. The rose bush merely symbolizes the commencement of Hester Prynne’s embracing of her new identity through crime and the unraveling of her moral blossom, but as well as the break of her human soul, flourishing in morality, while learning to deal with a new identity granted by society, along with struggling to conceal her secret of Reverend Dimmesdale and to regain her life’s past. Throughout the novel, Hester’s character confronts a series of conflicts between herself as well as with other characters, which aid her to develop her new sense of morality. As Hester struggles to develop a morale that not only pleases herself, but as well as society, she blossoms like the rose bush. Although she “[repays] them all with bitter and disdainful smile[s]” (50), “but under the leaden infliction which it was her doom to endure’ (50), she flourishes despite everything else. Ironically,
Hawthorne uses Hester’s needlework as a symbol to represent mending her life back together in the manner she knows best. As Hester uses her art as a pawn to re-enter society, Hawthorne portrays that one may fall into trouble and despair, but is capable of mending themselves together. This theme emitted through Hester’s character and actions, emphasizes her embracing as she is rectifying her life with a new attitude towards society, as well as attempting to thrive through the inevitable