Loss of Innocence in the Puritan Society

In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne hones in on the contrast amongst good versus bad and the loss of innocence that defies that line. Hester Prynne is a image of pathos and sin to the prude society, however she in one case was an innocent and honorable woman. On page 76, Hawthorne repeats the phrase At her, child of honorable parents At her, induce of a babe At her. This repetition emphasizes the way Hester was once viewed as a symbol of purity and honor in the prude community.Hawthorne excessively uses phrases like Child of honorable parents, mother of a babe and had once been innocent to contrast Hesters sin with the innocence that she once had. This is as well an example of pathos because the author is reaching out to the reader and qualification a point of the difference mingled with Hester as a symbol of innocence and purity, and Hester as a symbol of shame and mistake. These phrases create a fine line between what is good and what is bad in the puritan community .Hawthorn later uses phrases like heap of shame, misery, frailty, repelling passion, doom and alien to make an example of Hester and emphasize her horrifying actions. The diction in these phrases expresses the negative outlook toward Hester in society. She make a bad decision that haunts her and causes society to view her loss of innocence as a symbol of sin and dishonesty, to a point where they alienate her from the community. Hawthorne alike uses the phrase It may seem howling(prenominal) It may seem marvelous It may seem marvelous, over and over again.This repetition also draws a contrast between the things that haunt Hester in her community and her desire to stop where she lives rather than pack up and move away. The author is saying that with totally of the hatred and shame that haunts Hester in Boston, it is marvelous that she chooses to stay rather than flee. Something intimately her sin and guilt in that respect makes her want to stay instead of track from it. This shows the moral strength and integrity in Hester as a character. Although she made a terrible decision and has lost the innocence that she once had, there is no clearly defined line in her character between good and bad.Sometimes good people make bad decisions. In this case, Hester is much(prenominal) a strong willed character that she chose an individual freedom over the uniformity in the puritan era when she committed her crime. In conclusion, Hawthorne makes an example of Hester Prynne in the puritan era to show the conformity and honor that society lived by. When Hester committed that sin, she became a symbol of shame and loss of innocence to the puritan community. through with(predicate) the use of repetition, pathos, and diction, Hawthorne discusses the line between good versus bad in the puritan era and how loss of innocence effects that balance.