Hester’s Punishments Sentenced! Proceed to your scaffold for the town to see! Hester Prynne, punished for adultery, did not deserve the punishments she was given. She should not have been placed in prison with a child. She should not have to been subjected to public humiliation. Lastly, and quite frankly most importantly, she should not have to face the daily shame shoved at her by members of the community.

Hester should not have been placed in prison in the first place, but the fact that she was with a child makes the matter even more chilling! When Hester and Pearl walked out of the prison, it is said that the child “winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day; because its existence, heretofore, had brought …show more content…
(Hawthorne 62) The authorities who put her up there do not appear to have a heart at all. I like to think of it as if it was my child up there. There is no way I would stand for that! You would think people would run out of mean things to yell at her.

It apparently wasn’t enough that she was imprisoned and set up for public humiliation, for she then was faced with everyday mistreatment. “She was made the common infamy, at which all mankind was summoned to point its finger” (Hawthorne 78). Some just must not have anything better to do than to make others feel less than themselves. I find it a little ridiculous; why not let her be? To me, she was already punished enough.

Hester’s punishments were taken to the extreme in my book. She most definitely did not deserve such severe treatment. Prison was enough in itself. Public humiliation was something to leave her scarred. Everyday mistreatment was enough to make her want to never go out again. Throughout all of the hardships, however, Hester remained strong. She did not let the pain from the thoughts of others show through, so we do