Hester Prynne's Individuality in a Puritanical Community

During the nineteenth century, the theme of the individual in opposition to the community was prolific in politics, culture, and literature. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, the bearer of the scarlet letter, struggles with her community's ostricization of her because she commits adultery, resulting in a pregnancy. Although the isolation is difficult for her, she maintains her dignity through her sustaining strength. Although the community solely blames Hester for the sin because she is the mother of her illegitimate child, Pearl, Hester is not the only one who suffers as the individual excluded from the community. As one of the reverends in the community, Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale's unresolved guilt isolates him from his parish. The community isolates Pearl because she has an irrevocable connection to her mother and her mother's sin. Community is a singular thing, but it is made up of individuals. As soon as an individual rebels from the group, as Hester does, the entire group must denounce the individual because she mars their image as a whole, and as individuals. When it comes to religion, a community must disapprove wholeheartedly, especially of Hester's deviant sin. Ignoring the sin implies acceptance and therefore approval. The community needs to show God and its church that it condemns the sin and the sinner and are more devout Puritans than the individual.