Hester's decision to remain in Boston

[olmobar35]

In chapter 5, we find out that Hester chooses to stay in Boston even when she is free to leave. Hester knows that by remaining in Boston she will be alienated and forced to endure cruel taunts for the remainder of her life, so why do you think she does so? I believe that by staying in Boston, Hester is attempting to regain self-determination by suggesting that she does not need to live a life of lies in order to resist societies cruel attitude towards her. She also may have remained in Boston due to the fact that she feels an attachment towards her child's father.

[chfisch35]

It shocked me at first that Hester chose to stay in Boston and endure all of the hardships when she could have taken a boat to England and started anew. But then I reread the section and it said, "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at large purge her soul and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saintlike, because the result of martyrdom"(Hawthorne 77). That is an interesting passage that shows Hester feels that she can cleanse her sould by enduring the punishment and shame attached to her sin. It shows that Hester wants to have a pure soul. It made me think of Hester being more like Proctor than Abigail because Hester cares about her soul and wants to fix the problem.

[sahearo38]

I was also surprised that Hester didn't leave Boston when she had the chance. It made since for someone to want to escape a society that labeled her a sinner. But I think Hester is trying to stand up for herself instead of running away and that could be the reason she decided to stay in Boston. She does want to acknowledge that this society has any power over her life. If she left, she would be admitting they had control over her and her actions. Hester seems to be proud of her "A" and does not seem to be the kind of girl who would run away. Hester decides to stay and face all the taunts and alienation, despite being lonely, to order to stand up for herself.

[katower35]

Another possible reason why Hester decides to stay in Boston may be because the father of her baby lives there. In chapter 4, we learn the Hester's husband, Roger Chillingworth, plans to "seek this man as [he has] sought truth in books, and as [he has] sought gold in alchemy" (Hawthorne 73). He wants revenge on this man that has wronged both Hester and himself. If Hester does have feeling for the father of her baby, which could be supported by the fact that she does not reveal his name, she would want to stay in Boston to protect him from Roger Chillingworth.

[daubush35]

It was hard to believe that Hester decided to stay in Boston after her release from prison. With all of the humiliation that the rest of the city, one would immediately leave. Perhaps she decided to stay in order to intimidate the puritans and maybe make them question their beliefs. She does not commit any other crimes or sins aside from her affair. If she pursuits on doing good such as charity work and sowing clothing for everyone else, then maybe people would start to look at her in a different way.

[altinfo35]

I also think that the reason Hester stays in Boston is because of the man that impregnated her. At this point we see hints that Hester was and still is in love with this man. She will not reveal his identity to anyone because if she did he would most likely die. Clearly, she still has deep feelings for him. Perhaps she wants to stay in Boston so that he can find her.

[sarohwe38]

I, too, was intrigued and surprised that Hester Prynne decided to remain in Boston where she is subject to taunts and ridicule for the rest of her natural life. I think a main reason she stayed and began to sell clothing she designs to the citizens of Boston is that this is her attempt to remain within the consensus while the rest of society is doing their best to do the opposite of this. I think that Hester is aware that she sinned and this it affects her more than she is letting on, and attempting to remain within the consensus is her way of trying to achieve this. I also agree with Alexandra that another contributing reason to why Hester stays in Boston is because she longs to find the man who helped her conceive Pearl. I also see that Hester evidently loves him, but is also upset that she betrayed her husband and caused him harm. This creates quite the internal dilemma for Hester and I predict that through the course of this novel, we will see how she chooses to conquer it.