The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne The presence of the scaffold

The Climactic Presence of the Scaffold
<Tab/>Ever since the days of old, public condemnation was an occurrence that the public always enjoyed attending. From the guillotine to the gallows there was always some way to condemn a person for his or her sins. The scaffold, used by Puritans around the 17th century, was used to depict the foulest of criminals. To be upon the scaffold in front of the community was to be the worst of the worst in the eyes of the public. A person could be put upon the scaffold for a number of different reasons, some so petty as simple thievery, som…