If you are different you are considered an Outkast by Steven

Going against the grain and trying to be different from everyone else causes society to look at someone as an outkast. In a novel called "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is a character who is shunned away from society because of her sin of adulterywith another character Arthur Dimmesdale. A person who is different from everyone else suffers many consequences for their decision they made to be different. In "The Scarlet Letter", Hester Prynne is humiliated and embarresed for the decision she made to commit adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale. First, Hester Prynne is publicly condemned and commanded to stand on a scaffold in a market place so that everyone can see her as she is released from prison. As she stands on the scaffold, she is scolded from women in the crowd, as they make comments and criticize Hester about her actions and the badge on her chest. Hester became the talk of the town. Even someone who was socially inept and did not gage in society would know that Hester was different from everyone else. It is important to recognize that no other characters had to deal with people staring at them, criticizing them and humiliating them in the book. Everyone else was accepted because they were like everyone else. It's ironic that Hester Prynne is looked as a sinner and different from everyone else because under Puritan belief, all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Nevertheles, people do not realize that Hester is no different than they are and she is subject to public scrutiny. Today, our society tends not to accept people who are different and dont respect them for who they are. People who are different face public scrutiny just like they faced in the old days. For example, people in the gay and lesbian community face harsh public scrutiny for their decision to be who they are. They are often calle derogitory names ans are a laughingstock of the dominant society. People who are not gay do not have to worry about people not accepting them because they are considered normal by the dominant society. They are not criticized for their decision to be straight by the gay and lesbian community. All in all, it is important to recognize that some things have not changed in American society. People who are different are looked at as an outkast by society. Many people who are different have to deal with more stress and have to be stronger than others who are not differentjust because they do not conform to the pressure of society to be like everyone else. I am one who believes that people should not be looked at as an outkast because of the decisions they make in life. Everyone has one life and they should be able to live it the way they want to. No one is better than anyone else and do not deserve the right to criticize people for their decisions. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Scarlet Letter". The Norton Anthology of American Literature.Ed. Nina Baym. 7th ed. vol. A. New York: Norton, 2007