What is Hawthornes ultimate message regarding conformity and individual identity?

My personal
response is directed at the power and persecution visited by a one group upon the members of
another groupand that it is done so with overwhelming hypocrisy.

The Puritans
fled to the New World to escape persecution at the hands of the aristocracy in England.
Ironically, when they arrived, they proceeded to do the same to others. We see this in
and in The Crucible, as well.

In
The Scarlet Letter,  is a member of a Puritan community and, having
"lost her husband" some time before, finds herself pregnant, obviously not from time
spent with her husband.

Hester is ostracized and forced to wear the scarlet
"A" (for "adultery") which forever brands her as an adulteress. She never
names the father and suffers silently, even after her child is born. However, with the need to
survive, she stays with the community, and after many years, is accepted by the community for
the good works she does and her skills with sewing.

I believe that Hawthorne
sees that conformity within a society is necessary to survive in the wilderness in which these
people live, but that the enforced conformity contradicts the very nature of the God these
people believe they are serving: they see Him as an angry and vengeful God, whereas Hawthorne
seems to argue for a more Christ-like acceptance of the sinner, in this case Hester. For she is
certainly not the only sinner in their midst: truthfully, they are all sinners, but they act as
if her sin is worse than other kinds of sins.

In terms of individual
identity, I believe Hawthorne is saying that conformity is healthy only to a certain extent; at
a certain point every person must look within that conformity to find and nurture their
individual identity. What makes Hester such a memorable character is not
her sin, but her willingness to accept her individualityeven as an outcastto be the best person
she knows how, to be a good mother and neighbor, and show forgiveness and tolerance that those
around her have lost sight of.

For Hawthorne, conformity is necessary to an
extent, but the gifts and strengths of the individual are lost if conformity of a society
becomes more important than the individual traits of its members. Hester's goodness, in her
individuality, sets the best example to this hypocritical group that is so ready to censor
her.