Hester and Offred - Elzinga

In the books The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the characters of Hester Prynne and Offred are both similar and different.  They are similar in that they both committed acts that were seen as breaking the laws in the societies in which they live and were spared from the worst punishment, those societies are very similar because they are based on religion, both characters are fairly strong minded, but they have been forced to conform by circumstances.  They are different in that Hester’s child is seen as a reminder of her sin while if Offred were to have another child then that child would serve to promote and protect her, whereas Pearl just serves to further Hester’s punishment.  Another difference is that Hester got to keep Pearl whereas Offred lost her own child, Hester had Pearl as company and didn’t have to suffer the loss of a child while Offred had her child torn away from her and given to another family, and Offred has to suffer through the constant pain of imagining her child being raised by someone else and possibly not even remembering her.

First, beginning with similarities, both Hester and Offred committed acts that broke the law of the societies in which they live, and both were spared from death.  Hester committed adultery which in the Puritanical society of Salem, Massachusetts in the mid-seventeenth century was a crime of the highest order that could have been punishable by death, but Hester was spared and given a somewhat lighter sentence.  Offred tried to run away in a society where that was also punishable by death, but rather she was also spared and instead given the job as a handmaid.  

Second, both of the societies in which the characters live have laws and governments that are based on religion.  In the Puritanical societies of the 1640’s the governments and laws of the colonies were mainly set up by the colonists, and in Salem’s case were based purely upon religion.  The Puritanical societies were very strict and were based upon a literal interpretation of the Bible.  In, Atwood’s tail, a fictional society is created where an extremist religious sect has taken over the entire country and forced everyone within it to conform to their ideals.  Both of these societies have very strict laws based upon religious interpretation that are impressed upon the people who live in the society.

Another similarity between the characters is the attitude which both of them have toward their situations.  Both characters are fairly strong-minded, but are slowly beaten down by their circumstances to conform to the ideals of their societies.  Hester in the beginning walks out of the jail with her head held high, her scarlet letter ornately embroidered, and Pearl held in her arms like a trophy.  She shows the people in the town that she doesn’t care what they think and carries herself with a quiet dignity which most people would not possess in the same situation.  Throughout the book, she begins to become more and more embarrassed by the stares and the gossip about her and slowly wears down to where the letter and Pearl become a bigger burden than they had been.  Offred goes through the same thing.  In her flashbacks she reveals that originally she was someone who was strong-minded and opinionated, who would fight for what she wanted.  Yet, as time wore on and she was captured and forced into her line of work, she is worn down through the torture of the girls who tried to escape, and through the oppressiveness of her situation until she conformed into the part she was supposed to play.

Now, onto the differences.  Both of the differences are related to a similar topic, children.  In Hester’s society the fact that she had Pearl out of wedlock causes the child to serve as a constant reminder of her sin and shame, whereas any child born into the society of Offred would be valued and cause Offred to secure a better position and not be sent away.  Pearl, for Hester, serves as a sort of constant torture, while Offred would actually be made more secure if she were to produce a child.  This causes the characters to have different mindsets about children.  Another difference is that Hester got to keep her daughter, whereas Offred had hers ripped away from her when she was captured.  This affects the characters’ attitudes.  Through all of Hester’s shame and punishment she had Pearl, who though a constant reminder of her shame, helped none of the less if only because it was another person to go through it all with.  On the other hand, Offred had to suffer through knowing that another family was raising her child, who may or may not remember her.  She had to live without knowing what happened to her daughter or her husband.  At the very least, Hester had closure in knowing what happened to either Pearl or Reverend Dimmesdale.  

In closing, the characters of Hester Prynne and Offred share many similarities in that they both live in societies based on religion in which they have committed acts which broke the law and were spared, they also were both once strong-minded, but were worn down by circumstances to conform.  The characters are also different in relation to the way their children are treated, Pearl is treated like Hester’s scarlet letter, while any child Offred would have would be raised by a family of good standing and would serve to promote her.  Hester is also different because she got to keep Pearl, whereas Offred had her daughter ripped away from her.