Hester Prynne: A Tragic Hero

What makes a character heroic? Hester Prynne is the first heroic American. This young woman has stayed strong through each one of her weakest points, she kept her and her daughter’s heads up when everybody else is knocking them down, and how she took the blame of the sin and kept Dimmesdale a secret. Most people see Hester as a big sin, but she is more heroic than what the letter on her chest says. Hester is very strong and very brave as she continues to raise her daughter while her punishment is still ongoing. It takes a lot to knock Hester off her feet.
Hester goes through some very rough patches in her life, but that never stops her from staying strong. She is judged and shunned but still standing her ground. Hester stands on the

scaffold holding Pearl knowing that she was going to endure great punishment, but she knows she must continue to (“...sustain and carry it forward” Hawthorne page 73).
Most of the puritans in Boston look down on Hester and Pearl, however, Hester does an amazing job at keeping both her and Pearl’s heads up. There were many people who are calling Pearl a demon child and threatening to take Pearl away from Hester. Hester stays strong and stands her ground. She knows what she did was wrong but she wasn’t going to let that get in between her and her child.
When the person that Hester loves asks one thing of her, he does her best to make that happen.Hester is heroic for keeping her partner a secret as he requests. Dimmesdale, being a minister and a role model to the church, requests Hester to keep his name a secret. As strictly as Chillingworth demands to know, she stands her ground and keeps her word.
Although there are 2 sides to every argument, Hester is hands down truly heroic.