Scarlet Letter 2: 56-72

"It was whispered, by those who peered after her that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior" (65).

In this quote, the gleaming scarlet letter could foreshadow that Hester's sin of adultery will soon gleam too, it will take hold of her body and soul and be the only thing that, not only everyone else, but herself see when they look at her. Her sin will gleam to much that it will embed the rest of her.


Will anyone, someone, come along in Hester's life that may sympathize with her, and that they may look passed the scarlet letter?

"'Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone"' (59).

This quote, again, shows how unforgettable and forgiving the people in the town are. They want Hester to be a living example of adultery for the reset of her life, and even after when it is on her grave, still for people to see. These people will never let themselves or anyone else forgot that she has sinned. It is almost a way for them to forget about their own sins they may have committed because being so tangled up with Hester's sin, does not give them time to think about the sins they have committed. They no longer have to hide with their sin and shame, they are too focused on the sin of someone else.

With all this focus, any other sins ever come clean, or will Hester Prynne be the last sinner?