I am Hester, a puritan woman who came to America from Europe. I have been through so many horrible ordeals in the past few years. I have been to prison and I have had to stand on a scaffold in front of the whole town and my husband, whom I do not love, has come to America. I committed a horrible sin; I cheated on my husband with another man. The man who it happened to be was the Reverend of the town! It was a terrible mistake that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. I ended up having a daughter named, Pearl, as a result of this affair. Standing in front of all of those people on the scaffold was the most humiliating and unbearable ordeal. The time seemed to be going on forever and ever. The thing that made it even worse was my husband showing up after two years of us being apart. Another punishment for succumbing to my temptations was going to prison. I had to spend two years in prison with my child there. The worst punishment of all from this was that I had to wear an “A” on all of my clothes, The “A” stands for adultery. The townspeople do not know that Roger Chillingworth is my husband and my husband has asked me to keep it that way.

When I was released from prison I found a secluded home for Pearl and me. The townspeople do not talk to me because all they see is the red “A” on my clothing. I am defined by my sin and I will never be able to escape it. But it was my choice to stay in town; I had to suffer the consequences of my sin. I do have to support Pearl by being a seamstress for the people of the town. People think that Pearl is a demon child, “…poor little Pearl was a demon offspring: such as, ever since old Catholic times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their mother’s sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose” (81). On the internet I always search for websites that can help me deal with being the most hated person in town.  This website helped me the most: http://www.ehow.com/how_2386812_deal-being-hated.html

Image source: http://www.alcorngallery.com/John_Alcorn/JohnAlcorn_TheScarletLetter.jpeg

Tiarra Andrews-Owens –Hester