Alienation and Self-Isolation in The Scarlet LetterIn a community, people understand and know each other. In most cases, individuals grow up together and share the same ideals and customs. When a new person is introduced, people tend to crowd around and try to form a persona of the person. Many people expect him or her to quickly fit into the community and follow their laws and customs without complaint. Unfortunately, not everyone can act as a perfect person and mistakes or problems can occur that lead to isolation and alienation of the person from the rest of the community or vice versa. Through the use of a historical lens in the 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores how people's isolation and alienation. Throughout history, the Puritan community creates many different punishments that transgressors must accept in order to live in the community. According to Michael J. Colacurcio, in 1695, Salem Colony passed a law requiring women who committed adultery to sew a capital “A” on their clothing to mark them as adulteresses (331). Puritan colonies in the New World create a physical isolation of people who commit both heinous and moral crimes against the colony. Their rigid belief structures cause them to punish all crimes almost equally and lead to the isolation of the colonies from others who do not wish to associate with their actions. Although the Puritan colonies make up a large part of American colonial history in New England, many people did not approve of their harsh behavior and teachings. An example in this sense comes from Hawthorne, who sees Puritan communities as hypocritical and even too harsh. Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter as a symbol of Hester, her change and maturity, instead of her guilt and crimes: “many people refused to interpret the scarlet A with its original meaning. They said it meant Able” (Hawthorne 10). The scarlet letter not only represents an adulterer, but someone who overcomes the situation and moves on. Hawthorne's rejection of the Puritan mentality through Hester shows how Puritans do not accept many different things, which leads to their personal alienation. As they isolate outsiders and new ideas, the community becomes further alienated