Hester raises little Pearl on her own, away from the prying eyes of the extremely conservative Puritan settlement of Boston. She grows as a person throughout this time and eventually becomes someone that people are no longer wary of.
Before we actually started the novel, our English teacher wanted to give us a taste of what the novel was about by showing us part of the film with Demi Moore. So, I was expecting something much more romantic than what I found The Scarlet Letter to be. The novel starts with Hester's imprisonment and her embarrassment upon the scaffold. I felt so bad for her. The crowd was jeering and the Ministers were prying. I would have wanted to be swallowed by the Earth if I were her.
As the book continues, I kept waiting to learn more about what really happened. I already knew who Pearl's father was from the movie, so I kept expecting him to step out and relieve Hester. He didn't, of course. I began to dislike this man; he was a coward in my eyes. When the book finally started describing more about his situation, I finally understood. He was a good man. He cared about Hester more than one might believe.
Then there was Pearl. The girl kind of annoyed me. She seemed to take pleasure in giving her mother a hard time. Though, if I'm to be honest, she wasn't a terrible child. She just didn't seem to actually care!
The person I absolutely could not make any excuses for was Roger Chillingworth.He was cruel and malicious. His only concern was for vengeance, and even that was misplaced.
Most of my classmates didn't enjoy The Scarlet Letter, which I can understand. Hawthorne is a bit long-winded. Nonetheless, I found it to be an interesting book. It didn't drag on too long, nor was it seemingly pointless. I cannot say, however, that the ending did it for me. It just wasn't what I wanted to happen.
Rating: 6.5
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