In Nathanial Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", Hester is Hawthorne's heroine, and as such she must face the toughest of all moral dilemmas, her own sin. In the Governors hall as Hester savagely protects her rights as a parent she proclaims."..She is my happiness! --She is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter..." (77). Hester is overcome with sin she must have the reminder in order to get through her terrible plight. Hester is tormented by her moral standing and thus she must have protection on her road to redemption. Sin is a continuous journey for Hester and the fact that a young woman during her inquisition on the scaffold states, "Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will always be in her heart" (40). This...