The Scarlet Letter

Okay, so I started reading the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne yesterday. I haven't gotten very far because the language can be challenging and I'm really busy, but it's interesting so far. I read this part yesterday about Hester coming out of the prison, holding her baby in her arms and wearing the letter A on her chest. For a moment, she considers trying to cover the A with the child she is holding. But then it occurs to her that, "one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another" (Hawthorne, 37). I thought that was really cool. Then, Hawthorne contrasts Hester, who he describes as having "the taint of deepest sin" to the Virgin Mary, who he describes as "that sacred image of sinless motherhood." I found that to be very thought provoking.