Sin/Symbol in Scarlet Letter

“with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed.” (P. 48) Unlike Hester, I never had to endure such a circumstance as shameful and degrading as her’s, but after wearing my letter of sin, the letter I, I was able to understand a little more about how it feels to have everyone else stare and acknowledge the mark upon an individual’s heart everywhere one travels. Although everyone in her town knew about Hester’s sin and I chose to keep mine in secrecy, I too decided to elaborately decorate my letter in order for it to have a similar effect upon my demeanor as it did on Hester’s where it “seemed to express the attitude of her spirit, the desperate recklessness of her mood, by its wild and picturesque peculiarity.” (P. 49) For the first few days I wore the letter I, I felt extremely conscious and aware of the letter on my shirt and kept messing with it, as I’m sure Hester did. But also like Hester, I proudly displayed the letter – but I don’t know if I would have felt the same way about my letter if was in her situation since I had many of my friends share the same experience with me at the same time since they too had to flaunt their letters on their heart. But after the second day, I was no longer so mindful of my letter and actually came to almost enjoy wearing it for reasons I was not entirely sure of. Maybe because it was a symbol of my sin that I kept a secret from the rest of society, which many tried to guess what the ‘I’ stood for but none succeeded – and I admit I liked all the attention. I’m sure Hester did not enjoy her mark of shame, but she did learn an important lesson and grows as a result from her experience – as did I. Hester finds peace with society and herself near the end of the novel and took the letter to her grave to prove that she has nothing to hide. My experience in wearing the letter I upon my chest for five days helped me understand a little better of Hester’s transformation within a span of many years.