In the concluding chapter of The Scarlet
Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester's name comes to be revered. As a woman
who has weathered tribulations of the greatest measure, she is perceived as a
counselor. Realizing that Hester has "no selfish ends" in returning and resuming the
wearing of her scarlet letter, people come to her with their sorrows and "perplexities,"
seeking her counsel as one who can speak from experience, since she herself has "gone
through a mighty trouble." They come asking why they, too, are as wretched as she has
been, and they ask for remedies. "Hester comforted and counseled them as best she
might."
With his portrayal of the humbled, yet saintly
Hester as counselor, Hawthorne underscores his lesson that hypocrisy is the sin that
causes the greatest harm. Hester's honest character serves the others; they are
comfortable talking with one like them, a sinner and a sorrowful
person.
Amazingly, Hester's faith in God and the hereafter
is strong. She assures the wretched that there will be better days for them; she
assures them that one day "the world will be ripe for "a new
truth."
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