Public Shame In The Scarlet Letter

First, public shame is a consequence in society because it has an impact on the lives of individual people socially. This is seen in Source A, The Scarlet Letter. “Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment. A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys...turning their heads continually to stare into her face,” (Hawthorne 62). “Lonely as was Hester’s situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself,” (Hawthorne 90). As seen in the text, Hester Prynne was publicly humiliated for committing adultery, and as a result, was stared at in silence and had no friends. A similar concept is seen in “The Price of Shame.” “What that meant for me personally was that overnight I went from being a completely private

This concept is seen through Source C, “Is the Internet a Mob without Consequence?” “Pax Dickinson, a chief technology officer for Business Insider, was forced to resign this year after tweeting comments that people found sexist,. He too was subsequently attacked on the web,” (Bilton 1). As shown in that quote, Pax Dickinson lost his job by being publicly shamed on the internet, where messages of negativity spread rapidly. Public shame causing people to lose their jobs is also shown in Source B, “The Price of Shame.” “In 1998, I lost my reputation and my dignity. I lost almost everything, and I almost lost my life,” (Lewinsky 06:09). That quote shows that after being shamed online, Monica was unable to interact with others, and others did not want to interact with her, which involves giving her a job. One day, an individual is successful in work, and the next they say a few offensive comments, lose their success, and are threatened in public. Pax Dickinson and Monica Lewinsky are examples of people who suffered professionally due to shame online. Public shame also ruins the personal lives of

Source C, “Is the Internet a Mob without Consequence,” elaborates on this concept. “Justine Sacco...tweeted: ‘Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!’” (Bilton 1). “Within hours, people threatened to rape, shoot, kill and torture her,” (Bilton 1). According to the quotes from Source C, Justine Sacco felt comfortable, until she suddenly made an offensive tweet, which people exaggerated about. Personally, she felt harmed by so many people threatening her online in a matter of a few hours. Similarly, Source A, The Scarlet Letter, shows the social disadvantages of public shame. “‘This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die; Is there not law for it?’...The door of the jail being flung open,” (Hawthorne 59). According to that excerpt from Source A, Hester Prynne is suffering personally because she was in jail, Puritan townspeople were threatening to kill her, and it will be difficult for her to go back to the more relaxed life she used to live. Public shame has a negative impact on individuals personally, such as Hester Prynne and Justine Sacco, because other people threaten these individuals so badly that it is difficult for them to live normally