The Scarlet Letter Chapters 1-4: Hester Prynne and Sin

This portion of the reading introduces the reader to the setting of the novel and sets the stage with picturesque descriptions of Hester Prynne, the female protagonist.  My first impression of the chapters was that the language was very long winded and initially rather difficult to understand.  As I kept reading however, Hawthorne's beautiful, and at times disturbing, descriptions became more and more lucid.  One of my favorite images was when Hester had her daughter Pearl clutched against her bosom as she walked onto the scaffold while the town people judge her: "Measured by the prisoner's experience, however, it might be reckoned a journey of some length; for, haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon" (Hawthorne 52).  Instead of Hawthorne taking the perspective of the commoner standing in the grounds, he explains Hester's thoughts, making her appear more human.  I saw her as a person who had made a mistake instead of a taboo figure.
Initially I was rather confused why the governing men had decided not to execute Hester.  After reading the reasoning provided in the novel however, it made a lot more sense.  According to the governing men, she is still rather young and therefore more prone to give into temptation.  Also, it is completely possible that her husband may even be dead!  The Puritan women watching Hester on the scaffold say that they would have branded her if given the power.  Some of them even go far enough to say that Hester deserves to die.
Does that mean that the young have closer ties with the devil though?  I thought this went completely against what F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in his novel The Great Gatsby.  In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald describes Daisy's youth as the time of innocence and purity.  Here in The Scarlet Letter, we are being introduced to the opposite concept.  Perhaps regardless of one's age, we are bound to commit sin and become 'fallen angels'.  Perhaps that is what makes us human.

I feel as if this composition perfectly depicts these few chapters: Primavera by Ludovico Einaudi.