Throughout time, punishment has been a defining consequence for people who break the law. For example, Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist, refused to vacate her seat for a white man. At the time, the law required black people to sit at the back of the bus when a white person did not have a seat. Her defiance of the government landed her in prison as punishment, but it helped spark the civil rights movement for the injustices in their society. Likewise, in the 16th century, the Puritans had strict laws prohibiting sinful acts against the Bible and the purification of their society. If a Puritan broke the law, his crime would have serious consequences, such as public punishment. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne focuses on a Puritan woman named Hester Prynne, who committed adultery in her town. She has a daughter named Pearl and is punished by wearing a red "A" on her chest. The bold scarlet "A" symbolizes Hester's shame for her sin and is a constant reminder of her affair with Reverend Dimmesdale. Through light and dark motifs, Hawthorne shows the harsh Puritan society, criticizing their hypocritical nature and lack of need for less conformity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Despite Hester's sin, Hawthorne reveals with light motive that the punishment of wearing the "A" imposed on her by the Puritan people was the real crime. The Puritan people firmly believed that Hester would finally become a shadow in the darkness with the scarlet letter. However, "those who had known her before...were astonished, and even surprised, to perceive how her beauty shone and made a halo for her misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped." Hawthorne reveals that Hester's prominent beauty has always overshadowed the darkness that the Puritan citizens attempted to inflict on her by forcing her to wear the scarlet letter. Even with Purtien's actions against her, Hester was still able to defy their expectations of someone who had committed such a horrible crime in their eyes. This illustrates that Hawthorne's emphasis on Hester's light and details of beauty, such as her "halo", was intended to further recognize her radiance against the Puritan people. Hester stood her ground and faced the fact that she had committed such horrible crimes within her society. His truthfulness allowed his bright physical features to shine even more since the rest of his society was not entirely truthful. Not only does Hester have radiant beauty, but her child Pearl has her own "beauty, which shines through her magnificent robes...an absolute circle of radiance around her..." (Hawthorne 62). Puritans believed that Pearl inherited Hester's evil nature to rebel against society. However, Hawthorne revealed that even Pearl was able to outshine "the dresses" because she had no dark sins to fall into since she was only a child and she was just the product of adultery. The dresses symbolize the darkness that society tries to hide regarding Hester and Pearl. Hawthorne reveals that Hester and her daughter's accusations were incorrect and that even Pearl can have goodness and light within her. Hawthorne relates that the Puritans were surprised by Pearl's beauty because they considered her the devil's child in their society, which reveals the community's hypocrisy against Hester and Pearl. Hawthorne describes that her "sin" was a mistake that any Puritan could have made, but the fact that she recognized her errors demonstrates hercourage. Although Hester was able to eclipse the darkness that her society thought it could not achieve, Hawthorne reveals the negative impact of the hypocritical society on Hester's mentality through dark motifs. For Hester, negative interactions with townspeople were a daily struggle. The clergyman mocked Hester and "stopped in the street to utter words of exhortation, which gathered a crowd, with her mingled smile and frown, around the poor sinful woman." Hawthorne draws attention to the detail that Hester had to endure in distressing encounters with the townspeople as they called her the “sinful woman.” Not only did they want to humiliate Hester with the letter, but they also wanted to make her feel vulnerable and weak. The darkness of society had affected her, which is why Hawthorne points out the flaws in their society as the Puritans try to put others down just to make them feel better about themselves. Despite all of society's scrutinizing criticism, "Hester Prynne always had this terrible agony at feeling a human eye on her token..." (Hawthorne 59). Although Hester tries not to notice the large number of people staring at her for her letter, their eyes act as daily torture. Hawthorne illustrates that it is not the letter that interests Hester, but the critical and unpleasant nature of her society that makes her feel weakened. She felt like she needed to escape from her society and the constant criticism. In doing so, "her rich, luxuriant hair had either been cut off, or so completely hidden by a bonnet, that not a single shining strand ever peeked out into the sun" (Hawthorne 112). Hawthorne displays dark imagery of what once had light connotations to describe that she stayed in the forest with Pearl just to reduce the amount of hatred she felt. At the beginning of the novel, Hester felt rather confident with the letter, however, with more exposure to Puritan society, she felt more vulnerable. She felt more comfortable staying in the shadows. Hawthorne demonstrates that a toxic society can change the mindset of those who are most vulnerable. With both the punishment and hypocrisy of Puritan society, Hawthorne demonstrates Hester's unwillingness to conform to her unjust society and her perseverance to overcome her fear of her society's judgments. . Although Hester feels weakened by her society publicly denouncing her for her sins, Hester's reluctance to give up her reputation allows her to build relationships and gain the trust of the people in her community. People in her community “recognize the influence of Hester’s qualities. She used the dark actions of her past and charted her path to a new beginning, which finally helped bring the light back into her life. Her positive influence within her society has allowed her to gain the trust of others, demonstrating that Hawthorne believes that Hester's duty is to help others even though she has lost the connection between herself and society. The scarlet letter allowed her to grow and learn more about herself and "the tendency of her fate and fortune had been to set her free." The scarlet letter was her passport to regions where other women dared not tread” (Hawthorne 137). Through Hester, Hawthorne explains that with every mistake, you must learn to take advantage of it. Hester's choice to accept responsibility for her sin allowed her to seek redemption from herself and the Puritans, something many other women would not be able to do if they were in her situation . Rather than avoiding the past, she instead attempts to accomplish tasks within her community in an effort to..