Responding and Reflecting #5

Hester now being a more active person in her society is becoming still a woman is often scorned. She is starting to loose her self though and become a woman of speculation with Pearl. This is a direct result of her original punishments, all made by the Puritan society of the time. With the embracement of the letter on her chest Hester now believes that only with "human authority" will the letter be removed. She has changed a great deal from the beginning of the novel from having a hard time dealing with her letter to now embracing it and almost making it apart of her identity. The letter has now in this point of the story become more of a popular opinion and Hester is staring to feel that stress. She understands and embraces the letter but now has trouble defining herself because of the way that the community is defining her. They are constantly shaming her but Hester is embracing that fact but knows her self worth is more than the letter she bears on her chest.