After reading chapter 13-15 my initial reaction was the development of Hester Prynne as a character. In the beginning of the novel Hester openly acknowledge her disappointment and regret she had for her adultery. She wore the A proudly to constantly remind herself of her sin and to accept her punishment, ultimately to restore her grace in God’s eyes. Although Hester’s goal to improve her view in God’s eyes never changes, her perception on society alters completely. Hester, after spending years in society helping the poor and sick, forms a new reputation as a kind, charitable soul rather than the sinful person she was perceived as before. The Puritans not only show a new respect for Hester but they even begin to view her scarlett as not a sign of adultery but to represent the word “able”. Hester, after her years of dedication to respecting the rules of society and helping others, is relieved of her sin in the eyes of society. Even the most important rulers of the town begin to sympathize with Hester for all her good deeds. However Hester does not feel relieved of her sin and the only approval she wishes for is from God. She continues to shelter herself from society and even ignores people when she sees them on the street, still punish herself. Although Hester still reprimands herself for her sin, she no longer cares about the opinion of society. She begins to see the hypocrisy of the people who quietly hide their sins as opposed to her who openly admits it. Her approval of God is still a driving force in her life, but she no longers strives for the approval of others. She even thinks about how if she could she restructure society, how she would remove hypocrisy and create an equal and fair society. My reaction was that Hester seems to be past her time and almost above society. After experiencing life isolated from society she has discovered its major flaws and is the only person able to see past the ridiculous standards of a Puritan society.

For example, in the beginning of the novel, despite knowing Chillingworth’s intentions, remains silent about his true identity. Hester, yielding to the standards of society, attempts to avoid the humiliation of Chillingworth and ruin his reputation among the people. However in these chapters, and after seeing a tortured Dimmesdale, begins to not worry about the view of society but more on the struggle of Dimmesdale. Hester feared Chillingworth from the beginning, but now truly sees him as demon. Finally Hester decides to take action; she isn’t going to let Chillingworth torture Dimmesdale any longer. Hester no longer fears her actions in the eyes of society and her intentions rely purely on saving Dimmesdale from his torture, feeling she is responsible. Hester’s new view of Chillingworth is also represented in his new physical appearance. When Hester goes to talk with Chillingworth in the garden, she describes him as evil looking and that his face reminds her of the devil. She even says, “I see something that would make me weep, if tears were bitter enough for the sadness.” Hester before sat quietly and let Chillingworth live among society, but now she sees the extent of his intentions and is taking action to prevent it. As a reader I am seeing a new Hester, who has transformed from a regretful woman to a person with enough pride to fight for those she cares about. Hester, no longer cares about the view from society and is only viewed in God’s eyes. She has discovered Chillingworth’s hypocrisy for committing sin by torturing Dimmesdale and is realizing how little her sin is compared to others, yet she lives a life where she is constantly reminded of it. Her fear towards Chillingworth has translated into anger when she realizes how ridiculous it is for Dimmesdale to feel tortured for his secret sin when Chillingworth himself is sinning. She villainizes Chillingworth saying how his feet burn the ground when he walks and questioning why his fate is not fatal. She even boldly admits that marrying Chillingworth was the worst crime she has ever committed.

I thought it was very interesting how Hester develops as a character in these chapters. The scarlet letter has still forced her to act in God’s grace, but she now cares not of the approval from her society. This affect the scarlet letter had on her caused her to reconsider her decisions to keep Chillingworth's true identity a secret. She feels responsible for her own sin and doesn’t feel like Dimmesdale should be tortured by Chillingworth of himself for their sin. She knows that if Chillingworth’s identity was revealed Dimmesdale might be saved of his torture but she hasn’t realized until these chapters that she must take action to stop Chillingworth. Hester has ignored the pressures of society to act and live a certain way, and now she is mainly focused on the approval of God and to be morally correct. This is the driving force behind her actions with Chillingworth.

These chapters with Hester finally going to Chillingworth and telling him to stop torturing Dimmesdale reminded me of somebody sticking up to a bully. Hester has discovered how miserable Dimmesdale is and she feels responsible. Hester has now realized the hypocrisy of society and does not care about her consequences will be if she tries to stop Chillingworth, the bully. This reminded me of the movie A Christmas Story. In the movie, everyday walking home from school Ralphie, his brother, and his friends are heckled and bullied by Scut. Finally Ralphie has enough the bully and brutally beats up Scut. Hester is like Ralphie because she finally realizes that Chillingworth needs to be spoken to. Although she does not physically hurt Chillingworth she is finally taking a stand after seven years of silence. Ralphie and the boys are extremely scared of Scut and even describe him as having yellow eyes. This also reminded me of Chillingworth and Hester’s description of his demon like appearance. Ralphie also mentions how moments before attacking Scut he felt this flame of anger within him. Hester in these chapters show she truly hates Chillingworth by saying she hates him and that marrying him was the worst crime she had committed.