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Post by Nick Bycroft on Aug 15, 2014 19:29:06 GMT
In the novel "The Scarlet Letter" the symbol "A" represents adultery. Hester has to wear the letter "A" on her shirt to show that she committed adultery. This functions in the novel because it shows how Hester has many difficulties and shows peoples perspectives on Hester as a person. The town Hester lives in views her as an Immoral. Towards the end of the novel the letter "A" represents something completely different. It no longer stands for adultery instead it stands for angel. Also showing Hester's strength as an individual.
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Post by jmathews on Aug 16, 2014 2:07:06 GMT
In the story the Scarlet Letter is a red letter A that is worn on the dress of the main character, Hester, to symbolize her shame for adultery. This is forced upon her during her trial and her conviction. Throughout the novel the letter functions as symbol of the crime she committed against Puritan society and how Hester is cast as an outsider. Over the course of the novel Hester turns the red letter “A” into a symbol of courage and a symbol to reflect how she overcame the stigma to find peace in her life. The red letter “A” also becomes a symbol of pride for Hester’s daughter Pearl. This is how Pearl comes to identify her mother and the struggles her mother endured during her life. For instance in one of the later scenes when Hester removes the red letter from her dress, Pearl refuses to recognize Hester until she puts it back on her dress.
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Post by calvinnguyen on Aug 16, 2014 3:37:22 GMT
Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is convicted of being an adulterer. To be an adulterer, one must have an affair when they are married. As a punishment, Hester was forced to wear a "fatal token in scarlet cloth". This letter let everyone in town know what she has done. The "A" stands for adultery/adulterer meaning that she had an affair with a man other than her husband. However, throughout the book she did good deeds and her kindness made her punishment less severe. In the end, "A" stands for angel or angelic.
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Post by noorkantar on Aug 16, 2014 3:41:22 GMT
The central symbol of The Scarlet Letter is in fact the scarlet letter “A” that Hester wore upon her bosom. The embroidered letter signifies the act of crime that Hester committed, Adultery. The role of the scarlet letter in the novel is the way that Hester is punished for the sinful act she perpetrated, so the whole society could see the “A”on her breast. It was her symbol of shame. In the beginning of the novel, the letter stood for “Adultery” but as the story further progressed many viewed the letter in a different way. “….many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able.” The definition of the scarlet letter changed to many people because they saw the helpfulness and strength in Hester Prynne.
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Post by Natalie Lloyd on Aug 16, 2014 4:31:25 GMT
The scarlet letter itself in the book is the red letter “A”. Hester, a woman who commits adultery with a man named Arthur is forced to wear this symbol on her clothing visible to everyone once it is found out she has committed this crime. In the beginning the “A” first stood for “Adultery” and was frowned upon threw out the town Hester lived in. This symbol also gives the background information on what wrongs Hester has done to receive this letter on her chest. She is seen as a sinner. As Hester and her daughter grow up the meaning later changes to a symbol of “grace” and “Able” some even considered “Angel.” It is also a symbol that had been burned into Arthur’s chest, it didn't say how but some believed he did it himself or it just appeared in a supernatural way. Lastly it was seen in streaks across the sky during a meteor sighting that could also have been viewed as supernatural.
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alec
New Member
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Post by alec on Aug 16, 2014 13:56:12 GMT
The main character in this novel "The Scarlet Letter" Hester commits the crime of adultery. Thats why the letter on her chest is an A. Towards the end of the story this letter A changes and has a new definition. In the beginning of the novel to wear this A is a punishment. This A means much more in the end of the novel. For example page 109 in my book explains how this A means much more then the sin she committed. This symbol meant helpfulness was found in her, this letter was the symbol of her calling. This A meant so much power, people refused to interpret the scarlet letter by its original meaning. People interpreted it as "Able" Which means Hester is a women with strength. When strangers saw this letter on her chest and would ask what it meant the towns people would say thats our Hester, the one who is so nice to the poor, helpful to the sick, and so comfortable to the afflicted. This is how the meaning of the Scarlet Letter changed. This is mentioned in page 110. Because of this sinful act she committed she has a child named Pearl. The father of Pearl also has to wear an A.
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Post by Sierra Courtney on Aug 16, 2014 19:54:59 GMT
In the book "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne the symbol of the book is the scarlet letter. The letter itself is the letter "A", and this is put upon Hester Prynne to let people know about her crime. Hester had broke one of the sacred laws of the church, which was committing adultery.The way the letter functions in the novel is simple;Hester is forced to wear the "A" to let everyone know the shame and trouble she has caused the town to have.Not only did the letter bring about shame to Hester, the letter also had changed during the course of the story .At the begging of the story the letter "A" is used to publicly shame Hester. Although as time went on the letter "A" became a powerful symbol to her. When we first meet Hester she is told to stand in the middle of town where everyone can see her, and the shame she wears on her chest. The towns people are gossiping about her saying " At the very least, they should have branded her forehead with a hot iron". They proceeded by calling her unpleasant names, and wondering why she would care about the letter pinned to her dress. They said that if she wanted to she could have covered it up, but no she stood proud in the town square showing the letter off. At this point in the story, the letter changes. The Native Americans came to the town to watch Election Day, and saw Hester with the letter on her chest. They thought the letter was a mark to show that Hester was important in the ranks of society. Even though Hester had the scarlet letter on her chest, she also was carrying little Pearl, her daughter. Pearl was also one of the physical symbols of Hester's affair. Although, because Hester had Pearl, the letter became even more insignificant. This shows that the community's judgement system was all meaningless.
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Post by Brittany Damiano on Aug 16, 2014 20:22:08 GMT
In the Scarlett Letter the symbol Hester has on her breast is a letter, "A", which symbolizes as a adulterer. The symbol has "an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread." This symbol shows that she had done something wrong and the community did not like that. Eventually when Hester's daughter Pearl becomes older the community has started to see that the letter "A" resembles something else now, resembling "grace" and "able". It shows that over time the people realized that the letter wasn't such a bad thing.
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Post by Alexa Levesque on Aug 17, 2014 0:03:57 GMT
The central symbol of the book 'The Scarlet Letter', is the letter A in which Hester has to wear on her chest. The letter A signifies adultery. She wears it as a punishment because she is being punished for adultery and being quite about who the father of the child is. The Scarlet letter is an important part in the novel because throughout the beginning of the story, the letter signifies terrible meaning about Hester and everyone knows she has done something wrong. The letter has important meaning throughout the entire book. Later on , the meaning of the letter changes over time to mean a positive meaning. In the book, Hester and Pearl are shunned throughout the community because of the letter. Then as Hester does charitable work, people gain more respect for her. The letter now stands for worthy and its no longer punishment towards Hester.
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Post by Sarah Files on Aug 17, 2014 1:18:33 GMT
The central symbol of the story, the scarlet letter "A", stands for "Adultery". Hester Prynne committed an offense of adultery against her husband with a man she would not name. Instead of being killed she was punished by having to always wear the letter "A" on the bosom of her attire. She had birthed a child named Pearl that was thought to be the man she committed adultery with (Dimmesdale's) child. The letter "A" is thought of as shame for what Hester did, it made her and Pearl an outcast/spectacle. But they were never embarrassed of it, instead they were proud. Pearl was always a reminder to Hester of the sin she committed. Later on in the book the letter "A" changes meaning. It now represents "grace" because Hester does good deeds for others and is later on accepted.
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Post by Matthew Olsen on Aug 17, 2014 2:21:09 GMT
In the novel, "The Scarlett Letter" a lady named Hester Prynne commits Adultery. The symbol used for it was the letter "A". The governor Bellingham made Hester Prynne stitch the letter "A" onto her chest and walk around with it to show she has committed such a sin. Hester does not believe such a thing, so she wears it with pride. It functions because it showed how the town and the people viewed her for doing such a crime. At the begging of the novel "A" symbolized for adultery, but towards the end the aspect of the "A" changed as they seen differently of Hester and "A" then symbolizes “Able” and “Angel”.
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Post by Erin Stein on Aug 17, 2014 5:27:45 GMT
The central symbol of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel is Hester Prynne’s distinguishing punishment – the “one token of her shame”, her scarlet letter “A”. The letter itself has more than enough meanings, but for the sake of being brief, it essentially stands for “adultery”. To the reader, this became apparent during or after the opening scene of her public shaming. However, later on in the novel, as her peers begin re-evaluating Hester, the letter starts to signify “angel” or “aristocrat”. The letter itself acts as a defining quality for Hester and serves as the focal point for her viewers throughout the story.
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Post by Matthew Kay on Aug 17, 2014 12:38:45 GMT
The Scarlet letter represents adultery. At the beginning of the book, the lettert first symbolizesd that Hester is a sinner and everyone that came across her realized that she was not a very good just because of the letter. After awhile, people start to recognize the the letter as a symbol of grace, because actually Hester was a very kind person. The meaning for the letter after awhile from bad to good, and towards the end the people and governor Bellingham start to recognize that the letter is a good sign and that it means that Hester is a person of goodness and grace.
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Post by alyssajones on Aug 17, 2014 12:46:14 GMT
In the beginning of the scarlet letter Hester Prynne wears a scarlet "A". In the beginning of the novel the “A” stood for adultery. When she had committed this “sin” she had thought her husband was gone and not coming back. She could not hid the fact her and the Boston minister committed this “sin” as she was pregnant with their daughter Pearl. As the story progresses the people change the meaning of the scarlet “A” many times. By the end of the book the scarlet “A” stood for Hester’s strength. When everything began the people branded her with an “A” and though of her as a horrible person, but as the story progressed they came to accept what happened and to move on from it.
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Post by KristensenTate on Aug 17, 2014 14:39:40 GMT
In Hawthorne's novel, "The Scarlet Letter", The protagonist Hester Prynne has sexual intercourse with a married man. This act is called adultery. Since she has committed this act, Hester must wear the letter "A". Unlike most people who receive this punishment, Hester is proud to wear it and later on Embroiders the "A" with gold thread. By the end of the book, the "A" means "Angel" and becomes a good thing.
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