“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small things compared to what lies within us,” said Oliver Wendell Holmes. This ultimately proves particularly true for Hester Prynne, the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne, a young blonde girl whose husband had disappeared two years before the novel's opening, has an affair with the pastor of her Puritan church, resulting in the birth of her uncontrollable child, Pearl. Because of this act of adultery, Hester Prynne is marked with the scarlet letter "A", which she is forced to wear on her outfit forever. The plot thickens as Hester's former husband returns to New England and becomes obsessed with getting revenge on Hester's unnamed partner in sin. At the same time, the weak pastor slowly begins to waste away toward the dark gates of death. However, as those around her become weaker or morally degraded, Hester becomes stronger and stronger. Hester becomes so strong and morally righteous that it seems she is actually favored by Hawthorne despite her "sin." The qualities that Hester is favored with are her traits of helpfulness to others, her intense motherly love towards Pearl, and her defiance and pride. demonstrates towards those who try to impose their values ​​on him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Even though those she helped were cruel to her, Hester remained generous and helpful to others. For example, after having been recognized as a talented seamstress and having gradually earned quite large sums of money, “Hester granted all her superfluous means in charity, to wretches less miserable than herself, and who insulted often the hand that fed them.” proves that even though Hester was rejected by society, she continued to care for that same community. She had such a kind nature and such a willingness to help others that the fact that those she fed often returned their generosity with nothing but insults did not cause her to abandon her efforts. Then, near the end of the novel, after returning from Europe to the New England town in which she had sinned and repented many years before, Hester began counseling other unfaithful wives. For example, “Hester comforted and advised them as best she could. She also assured them of her firm belief that in a brighter age, when the world was ripe for it, in the time of Heaven, a new truth would be revealed, to establish the whole relationship between man and man . woman on surer ground of mutual happiness. pain and absorb the pain of others in order to benefit future generations, and she was willing to give back to a society that had given her nothing. Hester harbored an intense love for her child Pearl, although the child's mischievous and impish qualities brought her nothing but pain for the child's mother. This is demonstrated when Hester, after making known her skills as a seamstress, began to change her family's clothing, for example: “Her own dress was of the coarsest materials and of the darkest hue; with only this one ornament, the scarlet letter, which she was condemned to wear. The child's clothing, on the other hand, was distinguished by a fanciful, or rather fantastic, ingenuity, which indeed served to increase the airy charm which very early began to develop in the little girl.² This demonstrates that although Hester she -even would only dress simply to redeem one's purity.