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Post by maryri116 on Dec 5, 2012 20:22:32 GMT -5
During Hester and Dimmesdale's meeting in the words, Hester radically rips off her scarlet A, which I find to be quite shocking. The narrator obviously loves her doing so because he/she suddenly begins to describe her again in a positive light (literally) and as being a rare source of color in the Puritan world. What do you think the ripping of the A means to Hester and Pearl? And, more importantly, will the tangible A remain separate from Hester's chest or will it remain pinned to her forever (literally, not metaphorically speaking)? I understand that she does refasten the A to her chest, but it may not stay... or may it...
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Post by rebeccapl116 on Dec 5, 2012 21:01:09 GMT -5
As we discussed in class, I believe that Hester has ripped the A from her chest because she is now free of her perceived sin. She has revealed the identity of Chillingworth. She feels freed. Secondly, the ripping of the A is symbolic of her rejecting society's original definition of it. She did not believe that her sin was adultery. And now she is in the woods, having departed from society, having purged herself of her sin. She is rejecting society. She is becoming beautiful again. She is no longer plain. I feel that she refastens the A as new symbol of who she is. Not the sinful Hester, the proud Hester. She has changed the meaning of the A just as she did in the beginning by adding beautiful stitching. She may even look at it with the fondness that pearl does? Perhaps not as obsessive. But as part of her.
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