In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the setting of the story begins in with Hester coming out of jail to the market place, "The glass plot before the jail, in prison lane, on a certain summer morning, not less than two centuries ago was occupied by pretty large number of the inhabitants of Boston;all with their eyes intently fastened on the iron clamped open tree(Hawthorne,43)." Everyone is crowded in the market place to watch Hester Prynne come out of the prison door. “A crowd of eager and curious school-boys, understanding little of the matter in hand..ran before her progress, turning their heads continually to stare into her face (Hawthorne, 52)".The market place is a place where people get publicly humiliated. People are coming to the market place to watch Hester Prynne in humiliation. After the marketplace, the magistrates sent her to her home on the outskirts of the town, "on the outskirts of the town, within the verge of the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation, there was a small thatched cottage. (Hawthorne,69)" She lived on the outskirts of town because the town didn't want to have anything to do with her but she was in the town because they must watch over her. Puritans care about their religion and community. If someone had other beliefs, they would have been persecuted. The Puritan community is designed to be religiously pure, which means they had to be very strict. This reminds me of my community, when a scandal happens in this community, everyone talks about with their families on their Friday night dinner table.

Hester and Pearl standing on the scaffold alone.

Hester and Pearl coming our of the prison door.