After reading through the two different possibilities as to why Hester remained behind, I am not exactly sure of her true reason for staying. From what the two paragraphs say, I feel like her reasoning came actually from a mixture of both. I feel like she does indeed have some emotional connection to this place, I'm just not sure what it is. My first thought is that the connection is probably to her lover, and she feels that she shouldn't abandon him to the pack of wolves that are the villagers. The book says that what is keeping her there is "half a sense of truth, and half a self-delusion," but I'm struggling to get past there.
As for how the community treats her....let's just say I wouldn't want to be in her shoes. The community does support her a bit, but that is only because they want access to her incredibly fine needle-work. Other than that, they basically shun her. She turns into that creepy old hermit that lives on the outskirts of town where she won't be bothered. When she does go into the community, she is endlessly the center of attention as people in passing stare a her letter. It would be quite miserable
Now that you have thought about this decision, consider what the leaders of this colony are doing. Do you think that Hester's punishment is going to help her to be a better person? Do you think that her punishment is helping the colony to be a better example to the rest of the world for what a Christian 'city on a hill' should be? In short, are these the kinds of things that a people needs to do to make its members constantly strive to be better so that the rest of the world sees what needs to be done? Perhaps Hester is wrestling with this question, too. Will she be a better person for staying and working out her punishment?
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