CHAPTER FIVE

Hester at Her Needle

Hester's time as a prisoner was now over. The prison door was opened and she walked into the sunshine, which she would rather avoid, as her scarlet letter shone brightly in the sun, reminding all of her terrible mistake. She was no longer kept in the prison, protected from the hateful townspeople. Now she must learn to live in the community with her child and her scarlet letter. The young children in town would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her chest, as nothing but an evil, sinful woman.

Within the settlement of Boston, there were no laws declaring that Hester was not free to return to her birthplace, or to any other European land, and there hide her identity and shame. It seemed incredible that this woman remained in the community that gave her so much suffering and pain. Her great crime, however, kept her in the limiting Puritan society. She was now unable to leave; every other place was now foreign to her. She realized, as well, that the partner in her crime was there, whom she could never leave. She felt the two were connected through the union of their child. Although they were not married on earth, she believed they would be together after death. Over and over again, she thought of this with great joy. Although, perhaps this hope of being together with her lover in the afterlife was a way to bear the pain and suffering she lived every day in the strict Puritan society. She reasoned that because she suffered so greatly on earth, her soul would return to Heavenly delight upon her death.

Hester Prynne, therefore, did not leave. Near the outside of the town, she lived quietly with her child in a small cottage, with no close neighbors. With the little money she had, Hester established her self with her child in that home. The area became quite curious for the rest of the town, as no one else lived nearby. Children, too young to understand why this woman was not accepted in the community, would walk quietly to the window to see Hester with her needle sewing near the cottage window, or standing in the doorway, or working in her little garden; and the scarlet letter always on her chest. After a curious look at the mysterious woman, the children would then run away with quiet fear.

Although Hester's life became quite lonely, and without a friend on earth, she did not suffer from poverty. She had an excellent skill in needlework, which was shown in the elegant sewing of her scarlet letter. She had an imaginative talent, with the ability to sew beautiful pieces of clothing that looked like clothing a noble king would wear. She was often requested to sew elegant material for town ceremonies and baby clothes.

After some time, Hester's needlework became the fashion in the community. The governor of the community, military men, ministers all employed Hester to sew their clothes. Babies also wore clothing sewn by the criminal woman, but no one in the community ever requested her to sew a wedding dress, which showed how strongly remembered her crime was within the town.

Hester worked a great deal, and was paid well, considering her low position in society. She spent very little on herself, wearing the poorest of clothing, aside from the elegant scarlet letter, always on her chest. For her young daughter, however, she found the best quality material to sew the most fanciful of clothing. Her child's clothing added to the mysterious charm of the young girl. The rest of her income she spent on charity work for the poor, and who often treated her terribly. When she was not occupied in other work, she was sewing clothing for the poor or delivering a small meal to a family with no supper. Although, such families treated her quite rudely, and often reminded her of her terrible crime. She never responded to their impolite comments, however. She spent many hours in sewing such clothing, with no one to thank her. She had a creative mind, which was shown in the artistic clothing she sewed. To Hester Prynne, the art of needlework became the way she expressed herself, as she did not allow herself to defend herself from the rude comments she often received from the townspeople.

Hester Prynne continued as a member of the society that blamed her, but she never forgot her crime. There was nowhere in the community where she felt she belonged. She walked through town without looking at anyone in town, without any friends in the community. She was much like a ghost, walking beside the rest, speaking to no one. She refused to allow herself to enter society again, and never forgot her position in society as a guilty criminal, who would be punished the rest of her life. The poor, as we have already said, whom she helped with all the clothing and meals she could, took many opportunities to insult the one woman in the community who would help them. Women of high society would insult Hester after inviting her to their homes to perform her excellent skills in sewing elegant clothing, skills which the women greatly envied. Hester never responded to the women, aside from a look of embarrassment in her face. She was patient—a victim, indeed—but never prayed for these enemies, although she tried to forgive their evil remarks.

Continually, and in many other ways, the Puritan townspeople reminded her of her terrible crime with the rudest of behavior towards her. Ministers in the town would gather a crowd of people around Hester to discuss the terrible crime she committed. If she entered a church, often the leader of the church would be giving a speech about sin, in which he spoke a great deal about Hester. After some time, she hated to be around children. When she would pass by, they would scream terrible things at her, most still too young to understand what their parents had taught them about Hester's crime. She suffered, as well, when strangers entered the town, observing her scarlet letter carefully with confusion and curiosity. Although she suffered greatly from the angry looks from strangers and townspeople, she never covered her scarlet letter of shame. Through the many years that she wore the letter, she never got used to the terrible looks, but seemed to suffer more in time.

But sometimes, once in many days, or many months, she would see someone look at her scarlet letter with pity. Just a moment later, however, her suffering would return with another's angry look. Had Hester alone committed a crime?

With the great amount of time alone, Hester's imagination affected her thoughts. She believed that with her scarlet letter, she could see the terrible crimes that others had committed. When she realized this, she greatly feared it. She knew that if the truth were told, many in the town who looked pure would have a great scarlet letter on their chests, as well. Hester hated knowing the terrible secrets of the other townspeople. Sometimes she would see one of the town's respected ministers look at the letter of punishment with a look of pity, and she wondered what terrible crime this religious leader of the community committed. "What evil thing has this man done?" Hester would wonder to herself. Or, she would see one of the women in the community look at her chest with a look of embarrassment, as if she committed the same crime as poor Hester, although she did not have to suffer as Hester did.

Those who treated Hester the worst had developed a terrible story about the scarlet letter. The story was spoken of often, which gave Hester a great deal of pain. The story went that the scarlet letter was not just cloth, but was a red-hot fire, which burned Hester's chest, and the bright red letter could be seen at night as she walked alone in the dark.

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